Season One With a Twist
by I've Got Nerve
Summary: This story is currently being rewritten under the name of Opening Your Eyes to the Light. If you've been reading this, or if you want to start reading this, go to the other title because I'm deleting chapters as I go on this one.
1. Something Wicked Part One

**Chapter Four  
Something Wicked**

**I was at my house getting my things together. Sam and Dean had told me that I couldn't bring a lot, which wasn't a problem because everything in the house brought back memories.**

**I had only one bag and it was filled with clothes and a few pictures of my mom and of my friends.**

**I had told Layla that if she had wanted anything from the house she could take it and the ones she didn't want I would give to Goodwill or some kind of charity.**

**I would do the same to my mom's clothes and the rest of her belongings. The furniture would be sold with the house, which would up the price a little, but I didn't care about that.**

**I was going to bring along my laptop and my Ipod. The Ipod was Sam's idea. He had said that all Dean listened to was classic rock and, while I liked classic rock, it wasn't the only music I listened to.**

**It was going on eight o'clock at night now and I had had a pretty full day. I had gone to the lawyer's office to get the house situation sorted out and then I had gone to Layla's house.**

**We had talked for over an hour and I had ended up signing my car over to Layla. We had gone to the DMV to do that.**

**I had then told Layla that I was going to leave for a while and I didn't know when or if I would be back. Layla had made a fuss about me being alone and I had told her that I wouldn't be. There had been questions about who I was going to be with. I had told Layla part of the truth: that I was going with Sam and Dean because they were the only ones who could protect me. I had told Layla not to tell anyone and I knew she wouldn't. Ever.**

**Layla had wanted to be there to see me off, but I knew that would just make it harder to leave, so I had told Layla not to come. I had given Layla the house key and had told her what I wanted her to do with the things in the house.**

**Sam and Dean were supposed to be picking me up at eight-thirty and I was getting nervous.**

**I had made the decision to go with them because I had known it was the only thing to do. That didn't mean it wasn't a hard decision to make and it didn't mean I wasn't going to miss everyone.**

**The sound of my cell phone ringing brought me out of my thoughts. It startled me, even. I pulled it out of my pants pocket, flipped it open, and answered it.**

"**Hello?"**

"**Hey, it's Dean."**

"**Oh. Hi."**

"**We're outside. We didn't know if you wanted us to wait out here or to come in."**

"**You can come in. I'm upstairs in my room."**

"**We'll be right there."**

**They were by my side in thirty seconds.**

**I could tell they wanted to ask me something because they were looking at me and were being too quiet.**

"**What?" I asked softly.**

**Dean was the one who answered. "We were wondering when you were going to tell us what was in that letter your mom left you."**

"**Oh." I had been meaning to do that anyway. I'd just been preoccupied with everything that had been going on. "Okay. You can _read_ it if you want to. I don't actually understand it. Maybe you will."**

**I handed them the letter after I got it out of my jacket, which was lying on my bed.**

**Things were quiet while they read it. After they finished was a different story.**

"**So, this doesn't mean anything to you?" Sam asked.**

"**No. I mean, my mom never mentioned it to me."**

"**Well," Dean said, warily. "At least we know _why_ the demon is after you. Even if we _don't_ know what it means."**

**------------- -**

**I was now in the backseat of the Impala. We had been on the road for almost three hours and I had realized we had only traveled on back roads.**

"**Wouldn't it be quicker to go on the interstate?" I asked.**

"**There are fewer cops on back roads than there are on the interstate," Sam said. He was in the passenger seat, so he turned to look at me while he talked. "We try to avoid cops."**

"**Why?" I was intrigued. "Are you in trouble or something?"**

"**Well," Dean began to answer, "I'm not actually supposed to be alive and if anyone saw me and recognized me…I'd probably be locked up-for life."**

**I was shocked, to say the least. "Why?"**

"**We worked a case a while back with a shapeshifter-it's something that can change into anyone. It hurt this girl while it looked like me. They blamed a couple of murders on me. I shot the thing and it still looked like me."**

"**So…" I took a deep breath, taking what he'd said in. "You were up for murder and people think you're dead?" Wow. I hadn't expected that.**

"**Yeah. That pretty much sums it up," Dean said.**

"**Okay. Yeah. I see how you being recognized would be a problem." I sighed. "I feel like I went to sleep and then woke up in some kind of bizzaro world."**

"**You kinda did," Sam said, smiling slightly.**

**All was quiet for about a minute, but then I said, "are you going to teach me how to hunt?"**

**I didn't really see any other option. I wanted to be able to help them. I wanted to be able to look after myself so they wouldn't have to if they didn't want to.**

"**Are you sure you _want_ to know how?" Sam asked.**

"**No. I'm not," I said honestly. "But I don't wanna be useless and I want to be able to defend myself."**

"**We'll see," Dean said. "But this job…it changes you."**

**I nodded. I knew that. "It doesn't change the fact that I need to know."**

**------------- -**

**Dean had driven until we reached Coaldale, Nevada and then he had checked us into a motel room with two queens and an adjoining room.**

**I had been the one to suggest the two room thing. It wasn't because I wanted to be away from them; it was because I wasn't exactly comfortable sharing a room with two guys whom I didn't know very well.**

**Both Sam and Dean had been reluctant to let me stay on my own and I knew the only reason they didn't want me to be too far away was because they were worried the demon might come looking for me, so I wasn't angry at them.**

**They finally agreed when I told them I would keep the door that joined our room's together open.**

**The night had been as normal as my life was ever going to get and we were now sitting in a local diner waiting for breakfast.**

**Dean was skimming a newspaper that Sam had picked up on the way there. Dean hadn't said anything, so I assumed he hadn't found anything.**

**Sam was talking to me about their dad, John Winchester, whom they had been looking for.**

**Apparently, they had run into him a few weeks back, but had sent him away because they thought he was weaker when they were around.**

"**You have no idea where he is?" I asked sympathetically.**

"**Nope," Sam said. "Sometimes he calls or sends us a text, but not very often."**

"**Wow. That's gotta be frustrating," I replied.**

"**That's definitely the word for it," Dean said, putting the newspaper aside.**

**Sam looked at him and then down at the newspaper. "Find anything?"**

"**Nah. Nothing really sounds like our kind of thing," Dean answered.**

**At that, our waitress came out with our food. Dean's plate looked just like a pile of grease. I didn't know if he ate like that all the time, but if he did, I didn't see how his arteries put up with it.**

**Sam's plate looked slightly healthier, which made me feel better about my own plate. It was a small stack of pancakes, but I wasn't even that hungry, so I probably wouldn't finish it anyway.**

**------------- -**

**Dean was back in the driver's seat. Sam was in the passenger seat. I was in the backseat.**

**I had asked them to go through some of the more interesting cases that they had worked, so Dean was in the middle of explaining what a woman in white was.**

**By the name, I would have said it was the ghost of some girl who was mourning a man who had left her at the alter for some other chick.**

**Turns out I wasn't too far off.**

"**So, they stick around because their husbands cheated on them?" I said skeptically. "That's why they kill people?" Stupid reason if you ask me.**

"**Not all people," Sam corrected. "Just guys who have been unfaithful."**

"**That's because men are evil," I said jokingly.**

**They didn't seem offended, so I figured they had known I was just joking. That was good because I liked kidding around. Sarcasm was like a second nature to me, but to some people it was a foreign language. But, thankfully, these two understood my language quite well.**

"**But, seriously," I started, "why didn't she just get over it? I don't get it. I mean, someone cheats on you, you have yourself a good cry, dump them, and forget about them."**

**I had never actually been cheated on, but I knew that's how I would react. Actually, I had never really even dated. It had never been on the top of my list of priorities. All the guys in my school had been obnoxious.**

"**I agree with you on that one," Dean said. "But ghosts and spirits…they don't have a conscience. They have no morals. If they want revenge, they want revenge. It doesn't matter to them how they get it."**

"**Okay, well, if they're dead, how do you get rid of them? I mean, they have no butt to kick."**

"**You find their bones, salt them, and burn them," Dean said. "It lays the spirit to rest or whatever."**

"**You can repel spirits and demons with salt," Sam explained. "Or iron."**

"**Yeah, you know, I read that somewhere," I said. "The salt thing. It's because it's supposed to be pure, right?"**

"**Yeah." Dean sounded impressed. "Why were you reading stuff like that?"**

"**I told you before. I like learning. Just not school stuff. If it was weird or unexplainable, I was into it. I just never knew it was real." I hadn't realized it, but my voice had been getting lower and lower.**

"**I'm sorry you had to find out," Dean said sincerely.**

**When no one said anything else Dean put a tape in the radio and turned up the volume.**

**It was Foreigner. I could deal with that.**

**------------- -**

"**Okay. If you're gonna become a hunter, you're gonna need to know how to shoot a gun."**

**Dean had pulled off on the side of the road near one of the many fields we had been passing.**

**He was now popping the trunk of the Impala open and lifting the cover off his weapon trunk.**

**There were knives, guns, crosses, stakes, and other weapons that could fight off demons or ghosts. Another reason cops were bad, I assumed.**

**If we ever got pulled over and they had to look in the trunk for any reason, we'd be in jail faster than I could blink.**

**Dean picked up what looked to be the smallest gun he had and made sure there were bullets in it. He looked at me. "You ever shot a gun before?"**

"**No," I replied, looking at the gun in Dean's hand. "And something tells me it's not going to be easy to learn."**

"**It really depends on whether or not you're a natural," Sam said, from inside the car. He had been sleeping and Dean had wanted to let him sleep for a while. Or at least until the first shot was fired. Apparently, Sam had been listening in to the conversation.**

"**Alyson," Dean said, getting my attention again. "We're going to go about ten yards into the field and we're going to work on your posturing. You know, how you hold the gun. You can seriously hurt yourself if you don't do it right."**

**I didn't mention that I would probably heal instantly if I did get hurt, because I wasn't sure I would. I didn't know if the stomach thing had been a one-time deal or not. Neither boy had brought it up and I hadn't either.**

**Dean started walking and I followed him. "We won't worry about your aiming today. I just want you to get used to the feeling of the gun in your hand. Get comfortable holding and shooting it."**

**Dean handed me the gun and I kept it pointed at the ground. The safety was still on, but still…holding the gun made me uncomfortable.**

"**Now, before you go shootin' that thing, let me tell you something. You're arm is probably going to be sore. That's why you're starting with the smallest gun I have."**

"**Okay. Show me how to do this."**

**Dean looked at me and grinned. "Leave the safety on for now. I'm gonna be in front of you for a minute of two."**

"**I wouldn't pull the trigger if you were in front of me. I wouldn't even _touch _the trigger." Not that the bullet would have hit him anyway, because the gun was still pointed at the ground.**

**Dean seemed satisfied with my answer, because he stepped in front of me. "Now, when you fire a gun, it's going to jolt you. You need to be able to keep you balance. The gun you're holding won't do much. You might have to step back a little when you shoot it, but try to avoid moving at all."**

"**Okay," I said, letting him know I understood.**

"**Let me see how you think you're supposed to hold a gun," Dean said.**

**I looked at the gun, took a deep breath, brought it up with my right hand, and aimed it somewhere Dean wasn't standing. I brought my left hand up and cupped half of my right wrist and the part of my right hand that was holding onto the gun.**

"**Am I doing this right?"**

"**Mostly. Your hands are where they should be. Your shoulders are off, though."**

"**What am I supposed to be doing with my shoulders?"**

"**You left arm is supposed to be supporting your right one."**

"**My right shoulder should be loose?"**

"**Not completely. But if it's tense you have more of a chance of hurting it." Dean got behind me and touched my left shoulder, moving it to how it should have been. "You should be fine now."**

**Dean stepped back and I turned to look at him.**

"**Can I shoot now?"**

**Dean looked toward the road, probably making sure there wasn't any oncoming traffic; there wasn't anything on this road but us. He gave me the go-ahead.**

**I took the safety off of the gun and my arm started to shake. Dean must have noticed, because he told me to wait.**

"**What?" I didn't lower the gun.**

"**You don't have to do this if you don't want to." He paused like he was reconsidering what he'd just said. "Not today, anyway."**

**Now I did lower my arms.**

"**Look…this job that you and Sam do…something tells me I'm not going to be able to help. At all." I let out a small laugh. "I don't even know what I'm doing. And you're not going to be able to be with me all the time. Neither is Sam. I need to know that I can at least stall until one of you gets there."**

**Dean must have seen the reasoning behind that, because he nodded. "Okay. I just wanted you to know that you have a choice."**

**I smiled slightly. "Thank you." It meant a lot, him saying he'd give up his time to keep me safe if I didn't want to learn how to do this yet.**

**------------- -**

**I stood in the field, feeling Dean's presence behind me, his words going through my mind.**

**Did I really want to do this? No. But unlike Dean had said, I didn't feel that I had a choice. I didn't want to have to depend on Dean and Sam all the time. I wanted to be able to protect myself so the boys wouldn't have to.**

**I had already taken the safety off of the gun, so I steadied my arm, positioned my shoulders the way Dean had shown me, and pulled the trigger.**

**Dean had been right. I did have to take a step back. Also, I felt like I could feel the vibration of my ear drums. That's how loud the gun had been.**

"**You okay?" Dean asked, still behind me.**

"**Yeah," I replied reassuringly.**

"**You wanna try again? You have five bullets left."**

"**Yeah. I do."**

**I got in position again only this time I placed my right foot a little bit behind me so I'd be able to stop myself from moving easier. The five years of martial arts was going to pay off in this profession.**

**I took the safety off again. The gun had individual bullets and not clips.**

**I braced myself, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger again. This time only my upper body moved; I didn't have to take a step back.**

"**I don't see how you and Sam aren't deaf," I said. My ears were ringing.**

"**What?" Dean asked.**

**I lowered the gun and turned towards Dean. "I said-" Dean was grinning. "Oh. It's possible you were joking." I grinned too.**

"**Maybe a little bit."**

**I handed the gun to Dean. "I think I'm done for the day."**

"**You sure?"**

"**Yep. You and Sam need to find a job and help save lives, remember?"**

"**Right," he said.**

**We walked back to the car in silence. I thought about how my life was changing on the way.**

**------------- -**

**About a day and a half had passed and we were now somewhere in Nebraska. We had checked into another room because Dean was tired and so was Sam. And Dean wouldn't let me drive his car.**

**When he'd said I couldn't I'd wanted to stick my tongue out at him and pout, but I was too mature for that.**

**So we were in a motel room. We hadn't been able to get adjoining rooms, but I didn't complain. I couldn't _always_ have my way.**

**Dean hadn't wanted to leave me alone, so Sam had gone out to get food and I went to sleep…until Dean woke me up because he was _bored_. I could've smacked him in the head. I _wanted_ to, but I didn't. I'm nice like that.**

**I yawned and stretched, but didn't sit up. I was comfortable and I refused to get up. I looked around the room. "I take it Sam's not back yet?"**

"**Nope. Hence my boredom."**

"**And you thought I could help with that?"**

**I yawned again and Dean looked like he almost felt guilty for waking me up. Almost, but not quite.**

"**Well, no, but you are the only one here."**

"**Thanks ever so," I replied sarcastically. "You could have gone with Sam, you know?"**

**I looked over at the clock. I'd only been asleep for fifteen minutes. I was going to kill Dean. I was plotting his death as we were speaking.**

"**And leave you here alone? I don't think so," Dean said, and it sounded like his full-blown protectiveness was kicking in. "Look, it's Sam's and my responsibility to keep you alive and I intend to do it."**

"**So I'm just a job to you?" I was half-joking, but part of me wanted to know.**

"**That's not what I meant," Dean said. "That's part of it, but we wouldn't have asked you to come if we didn't want you with us." He paused. "I'm _not _leaving you."**

"**Because that thing's coming after me?"**

**Dean nodded. I scoffed.**

"**Yeah, well, with my luck, it would kill whoever was with me before it even tried to get to me." I looked away from him. "I don't want anyone else to die because of me."**

**Dean sat down beside me, but fidgeted afterward. It was like he was uncomfortable…and maybe he was. This conversation was bordering on emotional and something told me Dean wasn't the overly emotional type. Or maybe he was and he just didn't want anyone to know.**

**I didn't blame him if that was the case. I didn't like showing a lot of emotion around other people either.**

**He cleared his throat. "Yeah, well…that's what Sam and I are here for. We're good at what we do."**

**At that time Dean's phone decided to vibrate. It was on the nightstand in-between the beds so he reached over and grabbed it. He flipped the phone open and looked at whatever was there.**

"**Hm."**

"**What?"**

"**Coordinates," Dean said.**

"**Your dad sent them?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Finally something I already know how to do." I'd learned how to look up coordinates in the ninth grade so at least I could _do _that."**

"**Look up coordinates?"**

"**Yeah. Do you want me to do it?"**

"**Yeah. I'm going to call Sam, let him know what happened. After you find where the coordinates point to, get on the computer and find out if anything strange is going on around there."**

"**Shouldn't _you _be doing that? I mean, I might miss something."**

"**How else are you gonna learn?" He grinned. "Besides, I'll go over it after you do."**

**I smiled my first full-blown smile in over a week and said, "Okay."**

**------------- -**

**We ended up staying at that motel for the night mostly because Dean had said no again about me driving his car. Although, truth be told, I didn't want to drive if they were going to be sleeping anyway. I had no sense of direction; I'd probably end up lost and they would have to wake up and drive anyway.**

**At around eight o'clock the next morning, Dean woke me up again. I hoped this wasn't going to become a habit between us.**

**At least this time he actually had a reason. We were getting ready to leave. We were heading to Fitchburg, Wisconsin and I wanted a jacket. I was freezing.**

**It's not that it was even _that_ cold…I was just used to warmer weather. Thank goodness I had packed a sweater, which I was now in the bathroom changing into. It was light blue and it came down to just below my butt. It went well with my blue jeans.**

**Aside from brushing it, I did absolutely nothing to my hair. It was pretty much a lost cause that day, so…whatever.**

**I walked out of the bathroom, grabbed my bag, made sure everything was in it, and started to go outside, when Dean's voice interrupted my actions.**

"**Whoa, where are you going?"**

"**To put my stuff in the car," I said obviously.**

"**Wait for one of us," Dean said.**

**I sighed. "Dean, it's just a few feet outside and it's broad daylight."**

**Sam picked up his bag and came up to me. "Best to just listen to him," he said. "He's impossible when he's like this."**

**I nodded. I was getting that.**

**Sam and I walked out to the Impala and I, once again, got in the backseat. I didn't really mind this time because that meant I could go back to sleep. Yay me! Really.**

**Once Sam got situated in the passenger seat, he turned to look at me. "Does it bother you?"**

"**What?" I had no idea what he was talking about.**

"**Dean. Does him being like this bother you?"**

"**Him being all protective?" Sam nodded. "Not really. It's kind of endearing, actually. I'm just not used to it. My mom was…irresponsible. She wasn't a bad mother. Far from it. But I took more care of her than she did of me. I'm pretty sure the bills wouldn't have been paid if I hadn't been there to remind her to do it every month."**

**I laughed at the memory and Sam was smiling slightly.**

"**Anyway, it feels nice, having someone look after _me_ for a change. So yeah, the protectiveness is okay. I just don't want you two feeling like you have to walk on eggshells around me. I promise I won't break."**

**Sam nodded. "I'll try and remember that."**

"**Thanks."**

**------------- -**

**Dean had woken me up _again_. I really needed to talk to him about this waking me up all the time issue.**

**To be fair, this time it was as much Sam's fault as it was Dean's. They had been arguing and I couldn't just drown them out because I was in the backseat of the car.**

**From what I could hear, they were accusing each other of getting something wrong about the place we were going.**

**Dean was accusing Sam of not looking thoroughly enough at the local Fitchburg, Wisconsin newspaper articles. I trusted Sam enough to go with his instincts, but that was because I didn't really know enough to say otherwise.**

**I hadn't found anything either but, like I said, I didn't really know what I was doing.**

**Sam was complaining that Dean could have gotten the coordinates wrong, for which Dean denied. And the argument went on.**

"**Will you two please _shut up_?" I said, sitting up.**

**Dean looked at me through the rearview mirror. "Well, look who finally decided to wake up."**

"**How long was I asleep?"**

"**Nearly four hours," Sam said, looking at his watch. "Do you always sleep this much?"**

**I didn't want to blush, but I did. "I haven't had a decent nights sleep since before my mom died. I'm catching up on my rest." I sat up so I could lean my arms on both of the front seats and stick my head between them. "Or at least I'm _trying_ to catch up, but _someone_ keeps waking me up."**

**I looked at Dean pointedly and he grinned. "It was time for you to get up anyway."**

"**Right." I leaned back in the seat. "So, where are we?"**

"**About five minutes from Fitchburg," Sam said.**

"**Which is where we're supposed to be," Dean said smugly.**

"**Well, I don't know _why_ we're here."**

"**Yeah. You probably missed somethin', that's why."**

**And the argument began again. Oh, how fun.**

"**Dude," Sam began, "I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers-I couldn't find a single red flag. Are you sure you got the coordinates right?"**

"**Yeah, I double-checked. It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin."**

**I spoke up. "Not to mention if he had gotten the coordinates wrong, we wouldn't have come up with the same place."**

"**Thank you," Dean said, winning that argument. He then looked at Sam. "Look, Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important, Sammy." He turned his head toward the road again.**

"**Well, I'm tellin' you, I looked, and all I could find was a big, steaming pile of nothin'. If Dad's sending us hunting for something, I don't know what."**

"**Well, maybe he's gonna meet us there." Dean sounded hopeful.**

**Sam actually rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause he's been so easy to find up to _this_ point."**

**Now Dean was annoyed. "You're a real smartass, you know that?" He paused and then said, "don't worry. I'm sure there's somethin' in Fitchburg worth killin'."**

"**Yeah? What makes you so sure?" Sam was skeptical.**

"**Well, I'm the oldest," Dead started, uncertainly, "which means I'm always right."**

"**No, it doesn't," Sam scoffed.**

"**Yeah, it totally does." Dean grinned.**

**We drove past a sign that read _Fitchburg. Population 20,501_.**

**I leaned up to the front again. "Actually, I'm the female here, so that means _I'm_ always right."**

**Dean turned his head toward me. "Yeah, but you're not an adult yet, so you don't count."**

**I blinked a few times and couldn't come up with a comeback so I just stuck my tongue out at him and sat back in my seat. Clearly, being with these two was bringing out the kid in me.**

**I wasn't angry. Dean had been joking and the two boys had stopped arguing, so, the way I saw it, my job was done.**

**------------- -**

**We stopped to get coffee as soon as we spotted a café. Dean went in to get it while Sam stayed outside with me.**

**I usually didn't drink coffee or caffeine, period, because it made me jittery. But I figured I might as well make friends with it if my sleep was going to keep getting interrupted.**

**I got out of the car to stretch my legs and my whole body, for that matter, and looked around.**

**There were stores up and down the street behind me and on the other side of me was a playground. The problem was, there was only one little girl playing there. She was with her mom, I assumed; there was a woman there, sitting on a bench, watching the little girl.**

"**Sam?"**

"**Yeah?" he said, getting out of the car. He probably needed to stretch too. I mean, as tall as he was it couldn't be comfortable being in the car for long periods of time.**

"**What time is it?"**

"**A little after four. Why?"**

"**Look at the playground," I said and he did.**

"**Huh," he said, more to himself than to me. "School should be out, shouldn't it?"**

"**Yeah," I answered. "So, where is everybody?"**

**Sam nodded. "You're right. This place should be crawlin' with kids right now."**

**I decided I wanted to know what was going on and why there was only one kid on the playground, so I began to walk forward, but Sam pulled me back.**

"**Where are you going?"**

"**To talk to that girl's mom," I said. "You wanna come?"**

"**No," Sam said, as if he was remembering what I had told him that morning. "I'll wait here. Just tell me what she says when you get back."**

"**Sir, yes, sir." I mock saluted him.**

**He was amused and he smiled before he said, "go on. Get over there."**

**So I did. I headed for the playground again and this time Sam didn't stop me.**

**When I got to the playground I walked over to the bench and sat down next to the woman there.**

"**It sure is quiet out here," I said, just trying to make conversation. I watched as the little girl started climbing the monkey bars.**

"**Yeah," the woman said. "It's a shame."**

"**What is?" I looked away from the little girl and towards the mom.**

"**You know, kids getting sick. It's a terrible thing."**

**Wow. "How many?"**

**She looked at me now. "Just five or six, but serious-hospital serious. A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it catching."**

"**Wow." This time I didn't just think it, I said it out loud. "And nobody knows what's causing it?"**

**The woman shook her head. "No, that's why some of the parents are on edge."**

"**Oh." I didn't really know what to say to that, but it didn't really matter because Dean was calling my name from across the street anyway. "Sorry. I have to go."**

**The woman looked in the direction of Dean's voice and smiled. "Possessive boyfriend?"**

**I actually giggled at that. "Nah. More like overprotective big brother."**

"**Ah. Well, at least he cares," she said.**

"**Yeah." I stood up. "Anyway. It was nice talking to you. Even if the topic was less than pleasant." I began walking, but stopped and turned back around. "Those kids that are sick…did they have to go to a special hospital. You know, for a certain thing?"**

"**No," the woman said. She didn't look suspicious and I was grateful. "They're at the local hospital."**

"**Oh, okay." I smiled slightly. "Good-bye for real this time."**

**I walked back to Sam and Dean. He handed me a coffee.**

"**Thank you."**

"**Mm-hm."**

**I reached into my pocket to get some money to give him for the coffee, but when I tried to give it to him, he wouldn't take it.**

"**Dean…"**

"**Tell me what you found out and we'll call it even," he said. "Okay?"**

"**Yeah," I said. "There's not much to tell though. The playground is almost empty because kids are getting sick. Hospital sick. Nobody knows what's causing it. Oh, and they're at the local hospital."**

**------------- -**

**As soon as Sam and Dean found out about the hospital, they decided to pretend to be workers sent from the Center for Disease Control.**

"**You're kidding, right?" I asked.**

"**No," they both said.**

"**Well, what am I supposed to do? I'm too young. I mean, unless I'm job-shadowing or something like that."**

**Dean looked at me. "That might actually work. We're gonna have to get you the right type of clothes though."**

"**Oh no." That meant I'd end up wearing some sort of woman business-type suit thing…with heels. I hated high heels. They were shoes that were made in Hell, I was sure. They were designed specifically to make you fall and break your butt bone or your ankle.**

**And there we were in out suits in the middle of the hospital and Sam and Dean were arguing again.**

"**Dude," Sam said. "Dude, I am not using this ID."**

"**Why not?" Dean asked.**

"**Because it says _bikini inspector_ on it."**

**Dean laughed and so did I…but mine was more from being nervous than anything else. I mean, they were using fake ID's and Sam didn't want to use the one he had.**

"**Don't worry," Dean was saying. "She won't look that close." He was talking about the receptionist, I assumed. "Hell, she won't even ask to see it. It's all about confidence, Sam."**

**Dean pushed Sam toward the front desk and grabbed my arm to pull me away with him. We stopped a few feet away from Sam.**

"**Hi," I could hear Sam say. "I'm Dr. Jerry Kaplan. Center for Disease Control."**

"**Can I see some ID?"**

**Dean, who was standing right beside me, tried not to laugh. Sam glared at him, but smiled at the receptionist.**

"**Yeah, of course." He took the ID out of his jacket and quickly showed it to her, and then put it away.**

**I probably would've asked to see it again, but thankfully, _she_ didn't.**

"**Now, could you direct me to the pediatrics ward, please?"**

"**Okay," the receptionist said. "Just go down that hall, turn left, and up the stairs."**

**Sam smiled at her. He turned to Dean and glared at him again as he walked towards us.**

"**See?" Dean said. "I told you it'd work."**

**Sam shook his head and said quietly, "follow me. It's upstairs." So we followed him.**

**As we walked down the hallway, I started to feel weird. I didn't know if it was because I just hated hospitals or if it was something else, but I felt weird.**

**Suddenly I was having trouble breathing. My breaths were coming in short gasps and I felt like my head was spinning.**

**I looked around and saw that Dean had fallen behind. He was looking into a room that we had passed a few seconds ago. The door was open and I didn't know what he was staring at, but I didn't really care, at that point, because I was focusing on my breathing.**

"**Guys?" That was Sam. It got Dean's attention…and mine. Sam must have seen the way I was acting, because he looked concerned all of a sudden. "Are you okay?"**

"**I'm…I feel weird," I said.**

"**Weird?" Dean asked.**

"**Yeah. Like…I don't know. Just weird. Dizzy and like I can't breathe."**

**Dean looked at Sam. "Should we let her rest?"**

"**No." I said. I refused to hold them back. "We can go. I'm good. I just hate hospitals."**

**Sam nodded hesitantly and we started walking again. Dean walked right beside me and I tried matching my breathing with his. Within a minute, I was feeling better.**

"**You good now?" Dean asked as we turned into another hallway and went upstairs.**

"**Yeah."**

"**What _was_ that?"**

"**I don't know," I said. "Honestly. The only other time that's ever happened to me is before that demon attacked me the second time," I whispered even though hardly anyone was around.**

"**Hm. Were you freaking out?" Dean asked and he wasn't joking around. I must have freaked _him_ out.**

"**No." I had no reason to have freaked out. "I just felt…not right. But it had nothing to do with what we were doing. It was odd."**

"**_You're_ odd." He was joking again and I smiled slightly.**

"**That's not news to me," I said.**

**------------- -**

**We found Dr. Hydecker, who was the lead doctor for the pediatrics ward, and tried talking to him.**

"**Well, thanks for seein' us, Dr. Hydecker," Dean said. He wasn't freaked out over my little episode anymore, so that was good.**

**I still felt weird, but I could breathe and I wasn't dizzy. My hands were shaky and I felt semi-nauseous and I was a little cold, but I'd been cold for pretty much the whole day so I didn't know if that counted or not.**

"**Oh, I'm glad you guys are here," Dr. Hydecker said. "I was just about to call the CDC myself. How'd you find out, anyway?"**

"**Oh, some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta, and, uh, must have beat you to the punch."**

**It amazed me how Sam and Dean could come up with this stuff at the drop of a hat.**

"**So, you say you got six cases so far?" Sam asked.**

"**Yeah. In five weeks." We walked toward one of the rooms. It had a window-glass thing so you could see into the room without actually going in. "At first, we thought it was garden-variety bacterial pneumonia-not that newsworthy. But now…" they doctor trailed off.**

"**Now what?" Sam and I asked.**

"**The kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep going down. Their immune systems just aren't doin' their job. It's like their bodies are wearing out."**

**A nurse walked up to us. She looked tired. I felt a surge of sympathy towards her go through me.**

**Her nametag said Betty. She seemed nice enough. "Excuse me, Dr. Hydecker." She had a clipboard in her hand, which she handed to the doctor. He looked down at the paper on the clipboard and pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket.**

"**You ever see anything like this before?" Sam asked.**

"**Never this severe." The doctor signed whatever he was holding and gave the clipboard back to the nurse-Betty.**

"**The way it spreads, though-that's a new one for me.**

"**What do you mean?" Sam asked.**

"**It works its way through families, but only the children-one sibling after another."**

**Dean spoke up. "Do you mind if we interview a few of the kids?"**

"**They're not conscious."**

"**None of them?" I asked.**

"**No," the nurse said, sounding sad.**

"**Can we, uh-can we talk to the parents?"**

"**If you think it'll help." Maybe it was just me, but the doctor had sounded slightly agitated at that question. Maybe he was just tired.**

"**Yeah," Dean said. "Who was your most recent admission?"**

**Dr. Hydecker told us about two girls-sisters-that had been admitted a couple of days earlier. Mr. Tarnower, the girl's father, had agreed to talk to us, so we were now asking him questions.**

**I felt bad that we were taking his time up. If we couldn't fix this, his girls were probably going to die, along with the rest of the kids who were sick. So, hopefully we could fix it.**

"**I should get back to my girls," the dad said.**

"**We understand that," Sam said. "And we really appreciate you talkin' to us. Now, you say Mary's the oldest?"**

**Mr. Tarnower nodded. "Thirteen."**

"**Okay. And she came down with it first, right? And then…"**

"**Bethany the next night."**

"**Within twenty-four hours?" I asked.**

"**I guess. Look, I already went through all this with the doctor." He was being impatient, but I didn't blame him. I would be too.**

"**All right, now, just a few more questions, if you don't mind." Dean was trying to calm him down. "How do you think they caught pneumonia? Were they out in the cold? Anything like that?"**

"**No. We think it was an open window."**

"**Both times?"**

"**The first time, I don't really remember. But the second time, for sure. I know I closed it before I put Bethany to bed."**

"**So, you think _she_ opened it?" Sam asked.**

"**It's a second-story window with a ledge. No one else could have."**

"**Thank you for your time," Sam said.**

**We walked away from the dad and started going towards the stairs.**

"**You know, this might not be anything supernatural. It might just be pneumonia," Sam said.**

"**Maybe. Or maybe somethin' opened that window. I don't know, man. Look, Dad sent us down here for a reason. I think we might be barkin' up the right tree."**

"**I'll tell you one thing," Sam said.**

"**What?" Dean asked, stopping when Sam stopped.**

"**That guy we just talked to? I'm bettin' it'll be a while before he goes home."**

**Sam and Dean exchanged a knowing look and started walking again.**

"**Wait," I said, following them. "What are you talking about?"**

**Neither of them said anything until we got to the car. They didn't get in the car, so I didn't either.**

"**How do you feel about breaking and entering?" Dean asked.**

**I looked at him. "That depends. Are you in any way kidding?"**

"**No," both Sam and Dean said.**

"**Oh. You expect me to come with you?" I couldn't use the excuse that I wasn't feeling well, because I was feeling fine now. I wasn't even nauseous. It must have been the hospital that was making me sick.**

"**Yep."**

"**Oh. Well, sure, it sounds great. Except for the I'll-definitely-get-caught factor."**

**Sam smiled slightly. "You won't have to do anything. Not yet, anyway. But if you're going to learn to be a hunter you need to know these things."**

**I nodded. I knew that was true. "Well, let's go then."**

**------------- -**

**_We're going to jail_, I thought. _Any minute now the police are gonna show up and put us in handcuffs_.**

**I was standing in the middle of Bethany Tarnower's room, watching Sam and Dean do their thing.**

**Dean was doing something with an EMF meter thing. I knew it was supposed to be used to let you know if spirit activity was going on, but it wasn't going off at all. So, apparently, we weren't dealing with a spirit.**

"**You got anything over there?" Sam asked. He wasn't using an EMF; he was just looking around.**

"**No, nothin'," Dean answered.**

"**Yeah. Me neither." Sam moved around the room and toward the window. He made a face, so I assumed he'd found something. "Hey, Dean."**

"**Yeah?"**

**Sam opened the window and both Dean and I made our way toward Sam.**

"**You were right. It's not pneumonia." There was a black handprint on the window ledge. It was the longest handprint I'd ever seen. Clearly, it wasn't human.**

"**What the hell leaves a handprint like that?" Sam asked.**

**I looked at Dean for the answer, but he was staring at the handprint intently…like he'd seen it before.**

"**Dean?" He didn't answer me, so I put my hand on his upper arm to get his attention.**

"**Huh?" He looked at me and then at Sam. "What?"**

"**What leaves a handprint like that?" Sam repeated.**

**This time he did answer. "A shtriga. I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before."**

**Sam looked confused.**

"**He wants us to finish the job."**

* * *

**  
Anyway, how do you like it so far. I didn't know if I did a good job with the relationship between Alyson and the brothers or not. Like does it seem natural or not? Is Dean being too over the top with the protectiveness? Review please. I can't do better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong.**


	2. Something Wicked Part Two

**Chapter Five**

"**So, what the hell is a shtriga?" Sam asked.**

**It was the first thing that had been said in a while. Nobody had said anything after we'd left Mr. Tarnower's house.**

**To my delight, we hadn't been arrested for breaking and entering. I was insanely happy about that.**

**It had only taken a few minutes to find a motel, but it had felt much longer because nobody had been talking-until now.**

**The three of us got out of the car and Dean answered Sam's question. "It's kind of like a witch, I think. I don't know much about 'em."**

**He went towards the trunk of the car and got a few things out.**

"**Well, I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal."**

**I had never actually read the journal, but I probably wouldn't have understood it anyway, so that was okay.**

"**Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin about sixteen, seventeen years ago." Dean looked at Sam. "You were there, you don't remember?"**

"**No."**

"**Yeah, I guess he caught wind that the thing's in Fitchburg now and kicked us the coordinates."**

**I did a silent applause for myself; I'd gotten the coordinates right.**

"**So, wait," Sam started. "This…"**

"**Shtriga."**

"**Right. You think it's the same one Dad hunted before?"**

**Dean shut the trunk and started walking toward the door of the motel office.**

"**I don't know. Maybe."**

"**But if Dad went after it, why is it still breathing air?" Sam asked, confused.**

"'**Cause it got away."**

"**Got away?"**

"**Yeah, Sammy, it happens."**

"**Not very often," Sam said, shaking his head.**

**Dean turned around to face him. "Well, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, maybe Dad didn't have his Wheaties that morning."**

"**What else do you remember?"**

"**Nothin'. I was a kid, all right?" Dean sounded a little annoyed and he walked into the office by himself.**

"**Why do I feel like it's much more complicated than that?" I asked, more to myself than to Sam.**

"**Because with Dean it usually is," he answered even though the question hadn't been directed at him.**

**I watched as Dean rung the bell on the counter inside the motel. A young boy, probably about twelve, came out from the back room. He said something to Dean and then looked down, but was smiling when he looked back up. He was probably giving Dean a hard time. I smiled at the thought.**

**A woman, probably the boy's mother, went into the office and the boy went into the back room again.**

**A few minutes later, Dean came back out with a key-only one. He probably hadn't even asked about a second room, but I didn't care. I'd already shared a room with them once, so it didn't bother me anymore.**

"**I call first shower," Dean said, leading us to the room.**

**Sam rolled his eyes, but I didn't do anything. I didn't care who took the first shower as long as there was hot water when I took one.**

**------------- -**

**I was sitting by Sam on one of the beds while he was going through a few paranormal websites. He'd asked if I wanted to help, but I turned him down. We were on the clock here and it would take longer if I was the one doing the research.**

**If I had an idea I would tell him about it…even if I didn't think it would work.**

**I looked towards the bathroom. Dean had been in there with the shower running for twenty minutes now.**

"**Does he always take this long?" I nodded towards the bathroom door.**

"**Yup."**

"**Great," I said quietly. "Have you found anything yet?"**

"**No," Sam said regretfully.**

"**Try cross-referencing witches with mysterious illnesses or child illnesses," I said.**

"**Okay." He typed what I had said in the search box and a bunch of websites came up. "Wow, we need to narrow that down."**

**I heard the shower cut off and it wasn't fifteen seconds later that Dean walked out of the bathroom. The problem was he was only in a towel that was wrapped around his waist.**

**As soon as that registered in my mind, I looked away. I felt my cheeks heat up. I wasn't used to guys running around half-naked.**

**Sam must have caught my expression-man, that's embarrassing-because he said, "Dean, you might wanna take your clothes _with_ you next time."**

"**What?" Dean asked, distracted.**

"**Take your clothes in the bathroom with you the next time you take a shower."**

**I looked at Dean again, hoping the blush had gone from my cheeks.**

**Dean's eyes locked with mine for a few seconds and then he said, "oh." It was like he had just realized the situation he'd put me and himself in. "Sorry." He sounded like he meant it so I nodded, accepting his apology. Dean got a pair of clothes from his bag and went back into the bathroom.**

"**It was probably just out of habit," Sam said gently, apologetically. "He'll get used to you being here."**

**I smiled at him slightly. "It's okay. I'm just not used to that."**

**Sam accepted that and went back to researching. A minute later Sam said, "whoa, I found something." My cross-referencing skills had worked. I moved closer to him so I could read off the computer screen.**

**About two minutes later, Dean walked out of the bathroom again, this time fully-dressed.**

"**So, did you find something?" Dean asked as if nothing had happened. I was thankful for that. I had thought he was going to tease me, for sure.**

"**Yeah," I said.**

"**And?" Dean asked.**

"**Well, you were right," Sam said. "It wasn't easy to find, but you were right. A shtriga _is_ a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about 'em date back to ancient Rome. They feed off of spiritus vitae."**

"**Spira-what?" Dean had sounded so confused when he'd said that, that I giggled. He looked at me weird and that made me laugh harder.**

**Sam seemed amused, but continued talking anyway. "Vitae. It's Latin. It translates to _breath of life…_ kind of like your life force or essence."**

"**Didn't the doctor say the kids' bodies were wearin' out?" Dean asked, writing something down in, what appeared to be, his dad's journal.**

**Sam nodded. "It's a thought. You know, she takes your vitality, maybe your immunity goes to hell, and pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtriga's can feed off anyone, but they prefer-"**

"**Children," Dean interrupted. That much was obvious; only kids' were getting sick.**

"**Yeah," Sam said.**

"**Probably because _they_ have stronger life force," I put in. They both nodded.**

"**And get this," Sam said, looking at the Web page. "Shtriga's are invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man." That didn't sound good.**

"**No. That's not right. She's vulnerable when she feeds." Dean went towards his bag, which was on the bed.**

"**What?"**

"**If you catch her when she's eating, you can blast her with consecrated wrought irons, buckshot's, or rounds, I think."**

"**How do you know that?" Sam asked.**

**Dean picked up a book that had been in the bag and walked back to the counter where he'd been standing before. He poured himself a cup of coffee, which I hadn't even known he'd been making. You can always smell when coffee's brewing, but I guess I'd been so wrapped up in the conversation I hadn't been paying attention to anything else.**

"**Dad told me. I remember," Dean answered Sam's question.**

"**Oh." Sam paused. "So, uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?"**

"**No. That's it." Sam stared at him. Even I could tell he wasn't telling the truth. He was actually a pretty terrible liar. He looked at both of us. "What?"**

"**Nothin'."**

**Sam looked away from him and back at the computer screen.**

**The only reason I didn't say anything was because I hadn't known either of them for very long and I didn't think it was my place.**

"**Okay," Sam said. "So, assuming we _can_ kill it when it eats, we still gotta find the thing first, which ain't gonna be a cakewalk. Shtriga's take on a human disguise." **

"**What kind of disguise?" Dean seemed like he was listening, but he was reading a book too.**

"**Historically, something innocuous-it could be anything." Sam got up and went to fix him a cup of coffee. "You want one?" he asked me.**

"**No." It was late and I actually wanted to sleep that night.**

**Sam picked up on his previous conversation where he had left off. "But it's usually a feeble old woman, which may be how the witches-as-old-crones legend got started."**

**Dean looked up from his book. "Hang on." He looked like he was having an epiphany.**

"**What?"**

"**Can you bring me the map from my bag?" Dean asked me. I was closer, so I did. "Check this out," he said, spreading the map out. Sam moved closer so he could see. I was already close enough. "I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now, these are the houses that have been hit so far." He pointed to three red X's that were on the map. "And dead center?"**

"**The hospital," Sam and I said.**

"**The hospital," Dean said, nodding. "When we were there, I saw a patient-an old woman."**

**I could already see where he was going with this, but, apparently, Sam couldn't.**

"**An old person, huh?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**In the hospital? Whew. Better call the Coast Guard." Sam turned away from the map and from Dean, laughing as he did it.**

**Dean looked like he wasn't amused at all. "Well, listen, smartass, she had an inverted cross hangin' on her wall."**

**Sam stopped laughing instantly and I knew why. Inverted crosses were supposed to be signs of evil. That must have been what Dean had stopped to stare at when we'd been in the hospital earlier. That's when I'd had my freaky panic attack.**

"**We have to go back there, don't we?" I asked.**

**They both said, "Yup," and I groaned.**

**_Perfect_, I thought sarcastically.**

**------------- -**

**So we were back at the hospital and it was weird, but the closer I got to the pediatrics ward, the worse I felt. I felt shaky again.**

**I must have looked as bad as I felt because Dean looked at me and said, "you're not gonna hurl, are ya?"**

"**No, Dean," I answered. "At least not until I get back in your car."**

"**Hey," he said warningly, "don't talk about my car like that. You'll walk back to the motel."**

"**Yeah, but you'd just walk back with me…since you don't want to leave me alone."**

**Dean stuck his tongue out at me and it struck me how much of a kid he was.**

**I looked away from Dean and looked at Sam, who looked like he didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed.**

"**Are you finished? Or do you wanna talk some more so we can get caught?" I guess he chose to be annoyed.**

"**Don't look at me," I said. "Dean started it."**

"**Hey, I was just expressing my concern," Dean replied. "I mean, you look like you're about to empty your stomach all over the place and I'd like to be somewhere else when that happens."**

"**_If_ it happens," I corrected. "Which it's not going to."**

**Sam rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. "Oh, children, behave."**

**Dean and I looked at each other and grinned, but didn't say anything. Our playful banter was apparently done.**

**We walked to the end of the hallway and stopped because we heard talking.**

"**Good night, Dr. Hydecker," a woman said from around the corner.**

"**See you tomorrow, Betty." The doctor had been talking to the nurse we'd met earlier that day.**

"**Try to get some rest."**

**Sam, Dean, and I turned away from the voices. We made ourselves look busy until Dr. Hydecker walked by us. He didn't notice us and I was relieved. Not only were we not supposed to be there, but they thought Sam and Dean were members of the CDC and that I was job-shadowing with them.**

**Not to mention the fact that I felt so bad at that moment I was afraid I might pass out. If the doctor had seen me he probably would have wanted to admit me and I wasn't _even_ going there.**

**I was freaking Dean out again, I could tell because he was looking at me with concern and didn't seem like he was going to stop any time soon.**

"**I'm okay," I said. "Just give me a second."**

**I was dizzy. Not as dizzy as I'd been when it had happened earlier, but still…I didn't like it. It wasn't normal. I'd never been the overly sensitive type. I usually didn't let nerves get to me. And, yes, I hated hospitals, but my body had never reacted like this just because I was in a hospital.**

**I looked at Dean and focused on matching my breathing with his. It had worked the last time and it worked this time.**

**I took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go."**

**Dean hesitated, but then nodded. "Come on. And stay behind us."**

**I smiled. "Really not an issue. You two are the ones with the weapons and all." I couldn't actually see the guns they had, but they were carrying them in their jackets or pants. One or the other.**

**They were satisfied with my answer, so were started walking to wherever we were going. I was glad Sam and Dean seemed to know the way, because I couldn't remember the way we'd gone.**

**We turned into another hallway and we stopped in front of room number 237. The door was closed and Sam went to open it, but Dean stopped him.**

"**Wait," Dean said. He brought out a gun that was just a little bigger than the one I'd practiced with.**

**Sam looked like he didn't know if the gun was a good idea, but he went along with it anyway. He opened the door slowly.**

**All three of us walked into the room and I closed the door quietly. It barely even clicked.**

**There was an old woman in a wheelchair sitting in the middle of the room. She wasn't moving; I didn't even know if she was breathing.**

**Dean walked closer to the woman, going up beside her. Sam stayed behind her, with me. Sam pulled a gun out of the waistband of his jeans.**

**The old woman still wasn't moving. Dean moved closer to her, leaning over her.**

"**Who the hell are you?" The old woman suddenly said. "Who's there?"**

**All three of us jumped. Dean fell back against the wall and I would've laughed at him if I hadn't been breathing heavily. She'd scared me half to death.**

**Sam looked back at me with concern in his eyes. I mouthed that I was okay. Dean, however, looked like he was going to have a heart attack.**

"**You tryin' to steal my stuff?" the woman asked. "They're always stealing around here."**

**Sam turned the light on and looked at Dean. "No, ma'am. We're maintenance. We're sorry, uh, we thought you were sleepin'."**

**Dean still looked pretty shaken up. He ran a hand over his face trying to calm himself down. I was just glad he hadn't shot her.**

"**Oh, nonsense," the woman said. "I was sleepin' with my peepers open?" She laughed. "And fix that crucifix, would you? I've asked four damn times already."**

**I glanced at the cross on the wall. It was upside down. Dean brought his hand up and put it the way it was meant to be.**

**The three of us exchanged amused looks. Okay, so she wasn't evil. Good for her.**

**Dean was calm again and his gun wasn't in his hands anymore. Neither was Sam's, for that matter. They must have put them away when I hadn't been looking.**

**We left after that. Sam and Dean had decided that the little old lady was not dangerous or not supernaturally anyway.**

**When we got to the car, Sam started smiling.**

"**What?" I asked as I got into the backseat.**

"'**I was sleepin' with my peepers open?'." Sam laughed and I did too.**

"**I almost smoked that old gal, I swear. It's not funny," Dean said, but it sounded like he was trying to keep from smiling.**

"**Oh, man, you should've seen your face, Dean."**

**Sam was still laughing, but I could tell something was bothering Dean so I stopped.**

"**Yeah, well, laugh it up, man. We're back at square one."**

**By that time, all three of us were situated in the car, so Dean started her up.**

"**Hey, Alyson, are you feeling better?" He didn't look back at me because he was beginning to drive, but he did look at me through the rearview mirror.**

"**Yeah. Definitely better."**

"**You get like that every time you go into a hospital?" Sam asked.**

"**No. I guess that one's just special," I said. "Anyway, I feel completely okay now."**

**The two Winchesters' seemed to accept that because neither of them said anything. Besides, it wasn't like I was lying. I did feel completely fine. I just didn't understand what was going on with my body. It was like it was having random freak outs and I didn't know why.**

**This wasn't good at all. If I didn't know _why_ I was having mini panic attacks I couldn't stop them. And if I couldn't stop them, they would soon become a liability. _I_ would become a liability.**

**As I said before…not good at all.**

**------------- -**

**It was night. I was sleeping. I had been tossing and turning for most of the night, not because I was awake, but because I was dreaming.**

**The yellow-eyed demon filled my mind. It wasn't just him; it was all the things he'd told me.**

"**_I came here to kill you."_**

_**I was suddenly in my old house, in my mom's room. My mom was on the floor in a puddle of blood. I looked at my mom and felt tears sting my eyes.**_

"_**Looks like I settled," the demon said. "She's dead because of you." I knew he hadn't actually said that, but I felt that way.**_

"_**I know," I said. "It's my fault."**_

_**I felt myself being thrown through the air.**_

**My eyes popped open and I realized I was breathing heavily.**

**I sat up slowly, taking in my surroundings. I wasn't at home, the demon was not here, and my mom's death was _not_ my fault. I tried reassuring myself of these facts and I believed two of the three.**

**I still believed my mom's death was because of me and I'd probably keep on believing it just because I was stubborn like that.**

**I brought my hands up and pushed them through my hair. I could tell I'd had a restless sleep because of the many tangles my fingers got caught in.**

**I looked at the clock. It was barely four in the morning. I wouldn't be going back to sleep. _This_ was going to be a fun day.**

**I heard a noise come from the bathroom and saw light come from underneath the door. I looked at the other bed and saw only one person; Dean.**

**The sleep arrangements had been set up rather tensely. I had refused to share a bed with either one of them. I was still getting used to them and that would've just been too uncomfortable to deal with.**

**So I slept in one bed and the two boys had the other one. It was a queen so it was big enough for the both of them.**

**I heard the water running and saw the bathroom door open. Sam walked out of the bathroom quietly, but stopped short when he saw that I was sitting up.**

"**Did I wake you?" he asked.**

"**No," I said, shaking my head.**

"**You okay?"**

"**Yeah," I said. "I guess." Although, truth be told, I was starting to feel shaky again. I felt a cold chill go down my back and I shivered. But it wasn't even a third of how bad I'd felt at the hospital, so I didn't mention it to Sam.**

"**Do you wanna talk about it?"**

"**I just had a nightmare," I whispered.**

**_Enough said_, I thought.**

"**Oh." Sam frowned. "Your mom." It hadn't been a question, so I didn't answer. "Do you wanna try to go back to sleep?"**

"**I won't be able to." I knew that.**

"**Do you wanna watch TV?"**

**I grinned slightly and said, "sure."**

**Sam handed the remote to me and I scooted over so Sam would have room on my bed to sit. I looked over at Dean and pictured myself throwing something at him to wake him up but thought better of it. We would need at least one fully functioning brain to find this shtriga thing.**

**------------- -**

**Sam and I hadn't gone back to sleep and TV had gotten boring after a while, so we had gone outside. My shakiness had subsided a long while ago; it had lasted only about three or four minutes so I was happy about that.**

**There was a café across the street and Sam had wanted coffee-something special that he couldn't fix himself-so we were waiting for our drinks.**

**I was getting a French vanilla cappuccino. I'd pay for it later, but I hadn't gotten much sleep, so I was going to need the caffeine.**

**Sam had ordered him and Dean something. I had insisted on paying for it and Sam had agreed with it.**

"**So, did your bladder wake you up or was it something else?" I asked as I grabbed my cup from the counter. I waited for him to grab his two cups and then we walked towards the exit of the café.**

"**I woke up for the same reason you did."**

"**Nightmare," I said. "You have nightmares often?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Anything specific?" Sam didn't look at me and he seemed like he didn't want to answer. "I can shut up if you want me to. I'll just pretend I didn't ask."**

**Now he did look at me. "No, it's okay. It's just…the thing that killed your mom-that killed _my_ mom…it killed my girlfriend too."**

"**Oh. Wow. Recently?"**

"**About eight months ago," Sam responded.**

"**For real, now, I'm sorry for bringing it up."**

**He smiled sadly. "Like I said, it's okay." Sam took a deep breath and sighed. "That's the main reason I'm here now."**

"**I thought it was because you were trying to find your dad."**

**Sam nodded. "That's part of it. My dad knows more about this thing than Dean and me. In order to find this thing and kill it, I have to find my dad first."**

"**Oh." I didn't know what to say.**

"**I was in college," Sam said. "I was going to be a lawyer."**

**I snorted. "A lawyer?"**

**Sam looked at me in confusion. "Yeah. Why?"**

"**Nothing. I just can't see you being a lawyer." I looked at him to make sure he hadn't been offended and, thankfully, it looked like he wasn't.**

"**Anyway, I took time off after Jessica died."**

"**You wanna go back?"**

"**I do," Sam said. "I miss my friends. I miss being even remotely normal."**

**I didn't say anything to that, but sighed as we walked up to our motel room. "We're here."**

"**Yeah."**

"**If Dean isn't awake, I call dibs on waking him up," I said.**

**Sam looked at me as if I had two heads, but shrugged as if he didn't even wanna know why I wanted to wake Dean up.**

**To my severe disappointment, Dean was already away and alert.**

**Oh, well. Save it for another day.**

**------------- -**

**By nine o'clock, we were all hungry and we were getting ready to walk out the room.**

**When we got outside we walked towards the Impala. I looked over at the motel office. The young boy who had given Dean a hard time the night before was sitting outside, alone, on a bench.**

"**Guys?" I looked at Sam and Dean to tell them what I was seeing, but they were already looking that way.**

"**Come on," Dean said and the three of us walked over to the boy. Now that we were getting closer, I could see he'd been crying.**

**Dean crouched down next to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"**

**The young boy looked at Dean. "My brother's sick."**

"**The little guy?"**

**The boy nodded. "Pneumonia." Read Shtriga. "He's in the hospital. It's my fault."**

"**Oh, come on, how?" Dean asked.**

"**I should've made sure the window was latched. He wouldn't have gotten pneumonia if the window was latched."**

**All three of us looked at him sadly. I could relate to him. His brother was sick; my mom had died. Both were caused by supernatural beings and we blamed ourselves even though, logically, I knew neither of us could have done anything about it because we hadn't known these things existed. The boy still didn't know.**

**Wow, I was complex. Wasn't there an old saying about changing the things you can and accepting the things you can't? I obviously needed to work on that.**

"**Listen to me," Dean said. "I can promise you that this is not your fault, okay?"**

**The boy shook his head. "It's my job to look out for him."**

**Dean nodded like he understood completely. He probably did. Sam _was_ his younger brother, after all. I suddenly felt bad for adding to the load that Dean had to carry on his shoulders.**

**A few seconds later, the mom came outside with her arms full of blankets and a pillow.**

**She seemed frantic, which I got because, duh, her son with sick.**

"**Michael." Huh. So that was the boy's name. "I want you to turn on the _No Vacancy_ sign while I'm gone. I've got Denise covering room service, so don't bother with any of the rooms.**

"**I'm going with you," Michael said, and walked towards his mom and her car. She put the things she had in her arms into the backseat.**

"**Not now, Michael." The poor woman sounded so worried. I wanted to comfort her, but that would have been awkward. I'd known her for about two minutes.**

"**But I gotta see Asher!" Michael said urgently. If he blamed himself, which he did, he probably wanted to be there in case Asher woke up or…not thinking about the other option. It wasn't a possibility I would even consider. We _had_ to save these kids. That was the only option.**

**Dean stepped forward and put a hand on Michael's shoulder. "Hey, Michael. Hey, I know how you feel, okay? I'm a big brother, too. But you gotta go easy on your mom right now, okay?"**

**Michael nodded. The mom shut the back car door and dropped her purse.**

"**Damn it!"**

"**I got it." Sam leaned down and picked it up. "Here," he said, handing it to her.**

"**Thanks."**

"**Sure."**

"**Hey, listen, you're in no condition to drive. Why don't you let me give you a lift to the hospital, huh?"**

**I didn't know if Dean was doing that just to be nice or because he was going to try to get information out of her, but it was true. As distracted as she was, she was liable to have an accident or something.**

"**No. I couldn't possibly."**

"**No, it's no trouble. I insist."**

**The mom looked down at her keys and at first I thought she was gonna say no, but she didn't.**

**The mom turned and kissed Michael on the forehead, hugging him to her. "Be good." She got in the passenger seat of her car and Dean shut the door behind her.**

**He walked towards us and said, "we're gonna kill this thing. I want it dead, you hear me?" Then he walked away.**

**I guess he'd forgotten about being hungry; I had too, for that matter. But at least we were on the same wave length; we both wanted this thing gone.**

**------------- -**

"**So, does every case hit Dean this hard?" I asked.**

"**No. I think it's just because this thing is messing with kids."**

"**Gotcha." That was bothering _me_ too.**

**I was in the passenger seat of the Impala. For once, I wasn't in the backseat. We were on our way to the public library. We wanted to go through newspaper articles. I assumed the library would have an archive.**

**We pulled up to a two-story brick building. The library wasn't huge, but it was average size for a small town.**

**The library had a quiet room type thing that had computers in it. Well, it wasn't actually a computer; more of a monitor that didn't have a keyboard. It was loaded with newspaper articles.**

**We had only been researching for a few minutes when Sam found what he needed. More information about the patterns of the shtriga.**

**He got his cell phone out and dialed Dean's number. You weren't actually supposed to use a cell phone in the library, but we'd already broken into someone's house, so I figured this was just a minor offence.**

"**Hey. How's the kid?" Sam asked.**

**I looked at Sam, who shook his head. I took that as _not good_ and turned my attention back to the monitor.**

**Dean must have asked where we were because Sam said "we're at the library, tryin' to find out as much as we can about this shtriga."**

**I looked around the quiet room. A few people were there, but no one was paying attention to us. Thank goodness.**

"**Well, bad news. I started with Fort Douglas, around the time you said Dad was there." Sam paused. I hated only hearing one side of the conversation. "Same deal. Before that, there was Ogdenville. Before that, North Haverbrook and Brockway. Every fifteen to twenty years, it hits a new town. Dean, this thing is just gettin' started in Fitchburg. In all these other places, it goes on for months-dozens of kids, before the Shtriga finally moves on. Kids just languish in coma's, and then they die."**

**I sighed in frustration. I could only hear Sam explaining things; I couldn't hear Dean's reaction. I took over the monitor and Sam let me, probably because he knew I was getting impatient.**

**I was semi-tuned in to what Sam was saying, but mostly, I was paying attention to the screen-reading and looking at the pictures that went with the articles.**

**All of the places Sam had just named were towns in Wisconsin, so chances were _this_ shtriga was the same one John Winchester had come up against.**

"**I don't know," Sam was saying and, again, I felt frustrated. "The earliest mention I could find was this place called Black River Falls back in the 1890's. Talk about a horror show."**

**I went through a couple more articles and stopped on an old issue of _The Fitchburg Chronicle._ The article was on the front page. The headline read _Doctors Battle Mysterious Ailment_.**

**There was a picture beside the article of a group of doctors crowded around a patients bed. Hydecker was there. I checked the date of the article…This was printed in the early 1890's. Wow. He was extremely well-preserved.**

"**Sam…I think I found the shtriga."**

**Sam stopped talking to Dean and looked at me. I pointed to the picture and he said, "whoa." Dean must have said something because Sam told him to hold on.**

"**I'm lookin' at a photograph right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kids' bed. One of them is Hydecker."**

"**Tell him the date," I said insistently. I mean, it wasn't really the picture I was worried about here. It was the date. Doctors stand around patients' beds all the time. But people do not live to be over and hundred-and-fifty and still look thirty. Humans didn't live to be that old, period, I didn't think.**

"**And this picture was taken in 1893," Sam said.**

**Dean must have asked if he was sure, because Sam said, "yeah, absolutely." He then hung up the phone.**

"**Hey, Sam?" I asked.**

"**Hm?"**

"**Dean wouldn't, you know, um, kill him _in_ the hospital, right?" I paused. "I mean, he's taking this personally, so he might do something idiotic."**

"**We should go to the hospital. Make sure, I guess."**

**So we left the library and headed to the hospital, whether Dean killed the doctor or not he'd still need a ride back to the motel.**

**------------- -**

**When Dean met us outside the hospital, he seemed furious. So, I guess that meant the shtriga wasn't taken care of. Then it hit me that even if Dean had tried to kill him-it-it wouldn't have worked unless it had been feeding.**

**Nobody said anything and I was slowly becoming worried that the tense, silent car rides were going to become a habit.**

**I didn't know if Dean would jump down my throat or not, so I didn't say anything about, well, anything. If the two boys wanted to play the silent game I could win it.**

**By the time we got back to the motel, Sam looked like he was about to explode because he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He was probably looking for an opening, but he didn't have one.**

"**So," I started. "You didn't shoot him…did you?" I asked hesitantly. Again, I didn't know if he'd go off on me or not, so I was treading carefully.**

"**No. I wanted to, but I didn't."**

"**We should have thought about this before," Sam said. Obviously I'd given him the opening he'd been looking for. "A doctor's a perfect disguise. You're trusted, you can control the whole thing."**

"**Huh. That son of a bitch."**

"**I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there."**

**I went to sit on the bed and Dean pulled his jacket off, throwing it on the ground. He started pacing back and forth.**

"**Yeah, well, first of all, I'm not gonna open fire in a freakin' pediatrics ward."**

"**Good call," I said.**

"**Second, it wouldn't have done any good because the bastard's bulletproof unless he's chowin' down on somethin'. And third, I wasn't packin', which is probably a really good thing 'cause I probably would've just burned a clip in him off of principle alone."**

**He was still pacing. This really must've been bothering him.**

"**Gettin' wise in your old age, Dean," Sam said.**

"**Damn right. But at least now I know how we're gonna get it."**

**Dean stopped pacing and turned to face Sam.**

"**What do you mean?"**

"**This shtriga-it works through siblings, right?"**

"**Right."**

"**Well, last night…" Dean let the sentence trail off there.**

"**It went after Asher," Sam finished for him.**

**Dean nodded. "So I'm thinkin' tonight, it's probably gonna come after Michael."**

"**Then we gotta get him outta there," Sam said urgently.**

"**No," Dean said. "No, that'd blow the whole deal."**

"**What?"**

"**Yeah."**

**Oh, dear, they were going to argue again.**

"**Then you wanna use the kid as bait?" Dean raised his eyebrows in, what I assumed was, agreement. "Are you nuts? No! Forget it, that's out of the question."**

"**It's not out of the question, Sam. It's the only way. If this thing disappears, it could be years before we get another chance."**

"**Michael's a kid. And I'm not gonna dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook."**

"**Dad did not send me here to walk away."**

"**Send _you_ here? He didn't send you here, he sent _us_ here."**

"**This isn't about you, Sam!" Dean turned away from Sam and I could no longer see his face. "All right, I'm the one who screwed up. It's my fault. There's no tellin' how many kids have gotten hurt because of me."**

"**What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?"**

**Dean didn't say anything. He didn't even move.**

**I got off the bed, but didn't go to Dean like I wanted to. I did, however, speak. "Dean, you've been hiding something from the get-go. Even _I_ can see that."**

**Sam walked up beside me. "She's right. And since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away?" Dean sat down on the bed that I'd just gotten up from. "Now, talk to me, man. Tell me what's going on."**

**Dean was looking at the floor, at the wall, at anything that wasn't us. He didn't speak and, for a moment, I didn't think he was going to tell us what was going on in that brain of his.**

**It surprised me when he started talking. "Fort Douglas, Wisconsin. It was the third night in this crap room, and I was climbin' the walls, man. I needed to get some air. You were asleep…so I left. Dad had told me to stay in the room. I shouldn't have left."**

**From the way he was talking I could tell he followed his dad blindly. I didn't say anything because I didn't know his dad. He might have been a good person to have faith in.**

"**But there was an arcade across the street and I hadn't meant to stay long, but I was there until closing. When I got back to the room, you were still asleep, but that shtriga was there. There was this white light coming out of you; your life force, I guess. Anyway, I was about to shoot it, but Dad burst in and shot it instead. It didn't work. We had distracted it and it wasn't feeding anymore. It jumped out the window and you were fine."**

**So…that was why he was taking this case personally. Understandable.**

"**Dad just grabbed us and booked-dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away. By the time we got back to Fort Douglas, the shtriga disappeared. It was just gone. It never resurfaced until now. Dad never spoke about it again. I didn't ask. But, he, uh-he looked at me different, you know-which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order, and I didn't listen. I almost got you killed."**

**Sam and I sat down on either side of Dean. I wanted to tell him that was a load of horse hooey and he'd just been a kid-probably no more than ten years old. Kids were meant to screw up. Granted, that was a big screw up, but still…**

"**You were just a kid," Sam said. Huh. Maybe he was channeling my thoughts.**

"**Don't…don't," Dean said. "Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. And he sent me here to finish it."**

**Nobody said anything for a while. Sam looked down at the floor.**

"**But using Michael?" Sam asked softly. "I don't know, Dean. I mean, how about one of us hides under the covers, you know, we'll be bait."**

"**No, that won't work," Dean said, sounding like he wished it would. "It's gotta get close enough to feed. It'll see us. Believe me, I don't like it. But it's gotta be the kid."**

**Dean stood up from the bed and walked to the other side of the room.**

"**Dean's right," I said. They both looked at me, surprised.**

"**What?" Sam asked incredulously.**

"**Well, think about it, Sam. I mean, I get where you're coming from and if it'd work _I'd_ hide under the covers, but-" I looked at Dean,"-like you said…it has to get close enough to feed and it'd see me. Anyway, you two are gonna be right there…so nothing's gonna happen to him. I do think you should ask him first, though."**

"**Why?" Sam asked.**

"**Because maybe he saw something and he'd be willing to help. I know he's young, but Asher's his brother."**

**If I had a brother, I'd do it.**

**------------- -**

**Talking to Michael was turning out to be a bad idea. He was threatening to call the cops. He thought we were crazy. Not that I blamed him.**

**Michael had the phone in his hand when Dean tried to make him believe us.**

"**Hang on a second. Just listen to me. You have to believe me, okay? This thing came through your window, and it attacked your brother. Now, I've seen in. I know what it looks like. 'Cause it attacked my brother once, too."**

**Dean seemed to be getting through to Michael because he put the phone down.**

"**This thing-is it, like…it has this long, black robe?"**

**Dean hesitated. "You saw it last night, didn't you?"**

**Michael nodded. "I thought I was having a nightmare."**

"**I'd give anything not to tell you this, but sometimes, nightmares are real," Dean said sincerely.**

"**So why _are_ you telling me?"**

"**Because we need your help."**

"**_My_ help?"**

"**We can kill it," Dean nodded towards Sam and me. "Me and them, it's what we do. But we can't do it without you."**

"**What? No!"**

"**Michael, listen to me. This thing hurt Asher and it's gonna keep hurting kids unless we stop it, you understand me?"**

**Nobody said anything. We just let that sink in. After about a minute, Michael still hadn't said anything so the three of us walked out of the office.**

"**Well, that went crappy." Dean looked like he was thinking about what to do next.**

"**What'd you expect? You can't ask an adult to do something like that, much less a kid."**

"**Wait," a voice came from behind us. It was Michael. Dean turned to look at him. "If you kill it, will Asher get better?"**

**Dean looked at Sam and then back at Michael. I just looked at the boy sympathetically. "Honestly? We don't know."**

"**You said you're a big brother?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**You'd take care of them?" Michael nodded towards me and Sam. "You'd do anything for them?" No one told him I wasn't Dean's sister.**

"**Yeah, I would," he said softly. I looked at Sam, who looked like he had just learned something new. I felt like rolling my eyes. Man, guys were slow. Anyone with an ounce of brains could see how much Dean cared about Sam.**

"**Me, too I'll help."**

**I looked at Michael and then Sam and Dean smiled slightly. We'd gotten what we wanted.**

**------------- -**

**Dean and I were standing in Michael's room. Dean was putting a camera up on a high shelf, which I couldn't have done because I was so short. Anyway, Sam was in the other room setting up a live feed from the camera. We could watch on the computer. Pretty nifty, in my opinion.**

"**Now, this camera has night vision on it, so we'll be able to see as clear as day," Dean explained. "Are we good?" he raised his voice a little, so Sam could hear him.**

"**Hair to the right." Dean adjusted the camera. "There, there."**

**Dean looked at Michael, who was in the bed. He then walked to the bed and sat down.**

"**You okay?"**

"**Yeah," Michael nodded. "Um, what do I do?"**

"**You just stay under the covers."**

"**And if it shows up?"**

"**Well, we'll be right in the next room. We're gonna come in with guns. So, as soon as we do, you roll off this bed and you crawl under it."**

"**What if you shoot me?"**

**I laughed. This shtriga was coming after him-we were using him as bait-and he was worried about getting shot. Unbelievable.**

"**We won't shoot you." Dean grinned. He was probably thinking the same thing I was. "We're good shots. We're not gonna fire until you're clear, okay?"**

**Michael nodded and looked down.**

"**Have you ever heard a gunshot before?"**

"**Like, in the movies?"**

"**It's gonna be a lot louder than in the movies," I said and Dean nodded his agreement.**

"**So, I want you to stay under the bed, cover your ears, and do not come out until we say so, you understand?" Michael nodded, but looked away again. "Michael, you sure you wanna do this? You don't have to, it's okay. I won't be mad."**

**Michael looked back up at him. "No, I'm okay. Just don't shoot me."**

"**I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise," Dean said sincerely.**

**------------- -**

**We stayed with Michael until almost midnight and then we went out to where Sam was.**

**We started watching the live feed of Michael's room and absolutely nothing happened for a long time. Nobody said anything; we were too focused on the computer monitor.**

**Around two-thirty, I yawned. I'd been up for twenty-two-and-a-half hours. At least I would be able to sleep when I hit the bed.**

**I sighed. "Maybe it's just not coming."**

"**It'll come," Dean said. And that was that.**

**No one said a word for a while, but then Dean sighed.**

"**What time is it?"**

**Sam looked at his watch. "Three. You sure these iron rounds are gonna work?"**

"**Consecrated iron rounds. And, yeah, it's what Dad used last time."**

**We were silent for a minute. Sam kept looking from Dean and back to the computer screen.**

"**Hey, Dean, I'm sorry."**

**Dean looked at Sam, confused. "For what?"**

**I started feeling shaky again and I took a deep breath to calm myself down.**

"**Well, you know…I've really given you a lot of crap…for always followin' Dad's orders. But I know why you do it."**

"**Oh, God, kill me now."**

**Sam smiled, but then looked at me. His smile vanished. "Are you okay?"**

"**Yeah," I answered. It was true. My breathing was fine. I wasn't having a panic attack.**

"**Guys, look," Dean said. He was looking at the computer screen. I saw a long hand unlocking the window in Michael's room and then the shtriga entered through the window.**

**I watched the screen as Dean and Sam picked up their guns, which were beside the computer.**

**Michael was still in the bed and the shtriga was standing by the bed. It wasn't moving. I didn't know if it was because Michael was awake or because of something else.**

"**Now?" Sam asked.**

"**Not yet," Dean said.**

**We watched as the shtriga moved closer to Michael and leaned over him. A white light came across the screen. It was coming from Michael; the shtriga was feeding off of him.**

"**Now," Dean said, getting up quickly and bursting into Michael's room. Sam followed Dean.**

**I stayed with the computer; I could watch through that.**

"**Hey!" I heard Sam shout, distracting the shtriga.**

"**Michael, down," Dean said.**

**I saw Michael roll off the bed and crawl under it. I couldn't count the shots fired because there were so many. The shtriga finally fell down beside the bed.**

"**Mike, you all right?" Dean asked.**

"**Yeah."**

"**Sit tight."**

**I watched as Dean and Sam walked over to the shtriga, probably making sure it was dead. Dean looked at it for a moment before lowering his gun.**

**Suddenly, the shtriga sat upright and grabbed Dean by the throat, throwing him into the closet across the room, breaking the door on impact. He didn't move.**

**That's all it took. I stormed into the room, knowing I couldn't do anything, but I refused to just sit there and watch.**

"**Dean!" I heard Sam yell.**

**The next thing I knew, Sam was being pushed to the ground…the shtriga was choking him. Sam was trying to pick up his gun, which he'd dropped when he'd been pushed, but he couldn't reach it.**

**I didn't think martial arts would help here, so I rushed over to Dean, who was still on the floor. He was unconscious. I willed him to wake up. I couldn't aim a gun and I didn't want to end up shooting Sam.**

"**Dean," I said, shaking him. "Wake up!"**

**I looked at Sam and the shtriga wasn't choking him anymore; it was pulling a white light out of him; his life force. Sam's skin started turning grayish.**

"**Dean! Sam is in trouble. Now get up!"**

**Dean wasn't getting up. I saw his gun lying beside him and went to reach for it, but Dean's hand grabbed mine.**

**I looked at him. He had a gash on the right side of his head. It wasn't bleeding badly, but he'd hit it hard enough to knock him unconscious.**

"**I'm okay," he said, grabbing his gun.**

**Dean didn't stand up; he shot from where he was laying.**

"**Hey," he shouted.**

**The shtriga looked at Dean and he shot it in the forehead-right between its eyes. It fell backwards and off of Sam.**

"**You okay, little brother?"**

**Sam gave us a thumbs-up sign and got to his feet.**

**I helped Dean get up and we both moved towards Sam. We looked at the shtriga-man, it was ugly. Light slowly started coming out off it's mouth. I assumed it was the life force of the children that were sick.**

**Dean brought his gun up and shot it three more times. Light started coming out faster and I figured the children would be okay.**

"**It's okay, Michael, you can come on out," Dean said breathlessly.**

**I continued to look at what had been the shtriga. As the light came out of it, the body deflated. Finally, it disappeared completely, leaving the robe behind.**

**After the shtriga vanished, my shakiness went with it. That struck me as weird, but suddenly it hit me: The shtriga had been around every time I'd had the mini panic attacks. My body apparently reacted badly with supernatural forces.**

**I'd have to talk to Sam and Dean about it…after we took care of Dean's cut. It was bleeding heavily now.**

**Michael came out from under the bed and walked towards us. Sam patted him on the shoulder and Michael smiled gratefully at Dean.**

**Dean smiled back and then looked at the shtriga again. The robe had smoke coming from it. I guessed that was from the bullets.**

**Now that the job was done, I just wanted my head on a pillow, which would happen after Sam and I took care of Dean's cut.**

**------------- -**

**Sam, Dean, and I had brought Michael back to our motel room because we wanted to make sure he was actually okay.**

**Michael had gone to sleep in my bed as soon as he'd laid down.**

**Sam had gotten the first aid kit out of the car and Dean had looked at it warily. He knew I was going to have to clean the cut on his head. He seemed like he was dreading it.**

**Dean had given Sam the keys to the car and had told him to get the robe out of Michael's room, take it somewhere, and burn it. Nobody knew what to say about the closet door. I assumed we were leaving that up to Michael. Poor guy.**

**After Sam had left, Dean and I went into the bathroom, so I could fix him up.**

"**I can do this myself," Dean said.**

"**I want to do this," I insisted, getting a huge cotton ball out of a bag and wetting it with peroxide. I touched the wound gently with the cotton ball and he flinched. "Sorry," I said.**

"**It's okay. It just stings."**

**I nodded and continued cleaning the wound and the area around it.**

"**So, thanks for waking me up…and for not shooting Sam," Dean said.**

"**No problem. Thanks for _waking_ up. I felt so helpless-I couldn't _do_ anything."**

"**Well, we'll take care of that. I'll teach you how to aim."**

"**Okay," I said gratefully.**

**I continued wiping his head until there wasn't any blood left. The cut wasn't bleeding anymore, but it _did_ look angry, like the slightest pressure could start the blood flowing again.**

"**Don't touch it," I said. "I can't put a bandage on it because it's too close to your hairline."**

**I heard the motel room door close and knew that Sam was back. I grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him out of the bathroom. He was letting me…I knew that. If he hadn't have wanted to come I wouldn't have been able to move him.**

**I looked over at the bed Michael was asleep in. I figured it was okay to talk as long as we whispered.**

"**I have something to tell you guys."**

"**Okay," Sam said, laying the keys on the counter. "What?"**

"**Um, I think this is going to sound insane, but, um, I think I have some sort of built-in demon radar thing."**

"**Why would you think that?" Dean asked, sitting down on the bed Michael wasn't in.**

"**Well, because every time I had my freak outs…that things was near me. The first time, we were in the hospital getting ready to talk to Dr. Hydecker. As soon as we left the hospital, I was fine. The second time, we didn't talk to Dr. Hydecker, but he did pass us in the hallway. One or two minutes after he left, I felt better. The third time, the thing was here attacking Asher. I didn't know it at the time, but it fits."**

"**And you had another one before the thing came in Michael's room," Sam said, catching on.**

"**Yeah." I nodded. "And after you killed it, my shakiness went away."**

"**So, you're gonna have a panic attack every time you get near something supernatural?" Dean asked.**

"**No," I said and Dean looked confused. "They've gotten better each time. I mean, I'm not counting the yellow-eyed demon, because I actually had reason to panic then. But, this last time and the time before that…my breathing was fine. I could function. I just have, like, an early alert system."**

**I looked at both of them, willing them not to freak out. I didn't think I could take it if I freaked them out.**

"**Well," Dean said. "In this line of work, that's actually a good thing."**

**------------- -**

**I woke up late in the afternoon-around two-ish-and opened my eyes.**

**I was alone in the motel room. I jumped up and regretted it immediately. I got dizzy.**

**It wasn't anything to worry about this time. I'd just gotten up too fast. I checked the room. My bag was still there as was Dean's. I breathed a sigh of relief.**

**The logical part of my brain told me they wouldn't just leave me alone. But the less sensible part of my brain told me that I was going to freak them out one day and they were going to run the other way.**

**Dean walked into the room; he'd been outside and, again, I found myself sighing in relief.**

**He looked at me. "What's wrong?"**

**I blushed. "Nothing." I was embarrassed.**

"**Bull," he said, walking toward me. "What's up?"**

"**I woke up and nobody was here."**

"**Oh," Dean said. "Well, you were asleep and we didn't want to wake you up. You seem to have a problem with being woken up. We were just loading the car up so we could leave when you got up."**

"**Okay. It just scared me for a minute."**

**I sat back down on the bed, hoping he'd drop it, but he didn't. He sat down beside me.**

"**So, let me get this straight. You wanted me to give you space, before, but now you freak out because you woke up and no one was here?"**

**I grinned sheepishly. "Well, when you say it that way. It's just…I don't know. You could've been hurt or…you're could've left. I mean, I don't even know who I am, what I'm capable of. And I have this fear that one day it's gonna be too much for you and Sam to handle. And you'll leave. And I'll be alone."**

**I looked at him and saw understanding in his eyes. It was like he knew exactly where I was coming from. Maybe he did.**

"**I'm not going anywhere," he said.**

"**Good." I felt better. I felt reassured. "Thanks."**

**Dean nodded and stood up and cleared his throat. "Anyway, you should change, we're getting ready to go."**

**I nodded, standing up. I went to my bag and got a pair of clothes out.**

"**Did you want me to wait for you?" Dean asked uncertainly as I made my way to the bathroom.**

**I turned back towards him. "No. I'm good, thanks."**

**He looked like he was trying to figure out whether or not I was telling the truth, which I was. After about fifteen seconds scrutiny, Dean seemed to come to the conclusion that I was, in fact, okay. He turned from me and grabbed both his and my bag before walking out the door.**

**------------- -**

**I was now in the backseat of the Impala. Again. Dean still wouldn't let me drive the car, which sucked because I really wanted to. His car was _hot_. It was the kind of car I would've eventually bought for myself if my life hadn't changed so drastically.**

**Anyway, Dean and Sam had been talking about the kids who'd been sick. Apparently, all the kids made a miraculous recovery. So, go team!**

"**It's too bad, though," Sam said. "Michael will always know there are things out there in the dark. He'll never be the same, you know?"**

**I leaned up against the front seat. "Yeah, but he just helped save a bunch of lives, saved his brother's life. He probably feels pretty good right now. I know I do."**

**I smiled. It was true. I mean, I hadn't actually killed the thing myself, but I had figured out who it was. Those kids were alive because of what we'd done.**

**So, yeah, I felt good.**

* * *

**So, what do you think? Are the relationships realish? Also, I changed my preset thing to where you don't have to log in to leave a review, so I guess that means you don't even have to be a member to leave one, but I'm not for sure.  
Anyway, please review. I like to know that my work is appreciated. Constructive criticism is welcome. At least I'll know if I'm doing something wrong.**


	3. Provenance Part One

**Chapter Six**

**We were out in a field again. About three days had passed and we hadn't found another job, so I was training again. Only this time it was physical defensive training.**

**Dean was gonna be the one to teach me and Sam was gonna stand there and watch.**

**I hadn't told them about the self-defense I'd taken and I wasn't going to. Dean would find out on his own.**

**Dean grabbed me like he was going to throw me down, but I kicked him away. He seemed surprised. I hadn't kicked him hard enough to hurt him. I had only done it to make him stumble backwards. It was an attention-getter.**

**I took him by surprise again when I fell into a defensive stance. I wanted him to know I knew what I was doing, so he'd know I could hurt him if I wanted to. I never _would_ want to hurt him though.**

**Dean jumped at me, but I maneuvered myself to kick him in the stomach and stumbled backward again.**

"**So, I guess that first kick wasn't a lucky shot, huh?" Dean asked.**

"**No," I said. "I know how to take care of myself in a physical fight."**

"**What if I was a demon? I'd have every intention of killing you."**

**I had no idea how to kill a demon. I'd heard about exorcisms, but I didn't know how to perform one. So I stuck to fighting. I punched at him, pulling it before it actually hit him. I tried punching him again, but he blocked it.**

**He pretended to backhand me, which would have sent me crashing to the ground if he'd actually done it. I hadn't been paying attention to him. I'd been watching Sam, who just seemed to think the entire situation was hilarious.**

"**Lay down on the ground," Dean said, getting my attention.**

"**What?"**

"**That hit would've landed," Dean explained. "You would've been on the ground by now and I would probably be trying to kill you." He made it sound so casual, but I could tell that bothered him. I'd messed up and if this had been a real situation, I would be dead.**

"**If you were a demon," I said.**

**Dean nodded. I sighed. This conversation was making me uncomfortable and it looked like Dean knew that; he was enjoying it, even. Stupid guy.**

**I lay down on the ground and I felt a hard clump of dirt digging into my back. He tried to get on top of me-so uncomfortable-but I grabbed him, brought my legs up, and kicked him up and over my head. That was no small feat. I mean, he was heavy, but I'd used his own momentum against him. I got up, but didn't rush at him. I knew that was probably what he wanted me to do.**

**Dean had landed on his back, but he got up and stalked towards me. He didn't come within reaching distance. He looked stunned, frustrated, and proud all at the same time. It was a weird set of emotions to have, but they were all directed at me.**

**Neither of us moved, but Sam laughed again, this time distracting _Dean_, and I took the opportunity to punch him.**

**My punch landed, but I wasn't hitting hard so, basically, it was more of a love tap.**

**I kicked his legs out from under him and at first I felt triumphant, but then, somehow, Dean managed to bring me down with him. He used his whole body to move himself on top of me. And now we were back where we started.**

**His eyes were mocking. They were daring me to do something. He had me trapped and he knew it. My arms were above my head and he was holding them with only one of his hands.**

**I turned my head to the side and my teeth made contact with his arm. I didn't bite hard enough to draw blood or leave a bruise, but it did make him get off me.**

"**That's cheating," Dean said, grinning.**

"**I never said I'd play fair," I said, and Sam laughed again.**

"**You'd bite a demon?" Dean asked, still grinning.**

"**No," I said. "But they won't play by the rules, so why should I?"**

"**That attitude right there is gonna save your life one day," Sam said.**

**I smiled. "Besides," I looked at Dean, "I had an equally effective counterattack planned, but you wouldn't have liked it."**

"**Yeah? And what's that?"**

"**Kicking you where the sun don't shine."**

"**Oh." Dean nodded. "You're right. I _wouldn't_ have liked that."**

**------------- -**

**We ended up in some low-class bar later that night. I was only seventeen, so I couldn't drink alcohol-not that I would-and I had to leave by midnight.**

**I was feeling pretty uncomfortable and out of place. I had never set foot in a bar before. Truth was, most people thought of me as a goody-two-shoes. I didn't care. I didn't understand the appeal of alcohol or drugs. I mean, yes, life sucked sometimes, but I didn't think you should turn to outside substances to help you through it. Unless it was prescribed by a doctor.**

**I hadn't even wanted to come here, but Dean had said he needed some fun, so I'd agreed.**

**There was a band playing up on stage. They didn't suck, but they weren't the best thing ever either.**

**Sam and I were sitting at a table together. He was going through his dad's journal and a newspaper he'd picked up before coming to the bar. The front page was what had caught Sam's eye. The headline was _Couple's Throats Slashed in Own Home_.**

**I hadn't read the article and I wasn't going to. I figured if I needed to know something Sam would tell me.**

**I looked over at Dean, who was actually at the bar. He'd gone to get himself a drink, but had gotten distracted by a couple of girls.**

**Sam picked up the newspaper, looked at the bar and waved to Dean, who gave the gesture to _hold on a second_. Sam didn't wait. He waved to Dean again.**

**I could practically feel Dean roll his eyes as he picked up three glasses. Two of them I knew were beer and I assumed the other one was a soda. That one was for me.**

**Dean walked towards us and mouthed _oh my gosh_. He handed me my glass and I started sipping. It was Pepsi.**

"**All right, so I think I found somethin'," Sam said, looking at Dean as he put the glasses on the table.**

"**Oh, yeah. Me, too. I think we need to take a little shore leave for just a little bit. What do you think, huh?" Dean looked back to the girl at the bar. "I'm so in the door with this one."**

"**So, what are we today, Dean?" Sam asked. "Are we rock stars? Are we army rangers?"**

"**We're reality TV scouts looking for people with special skills." He and Sam laughed and I had to admit, it was pretty funny. Girls actually fell for that? "I mean, hey, it's not that far off, right?" Dean looked at Sam. "By the way, she's got a friend over there. I could probably hook you up, what do you think?"**

"**Dean, no thanks, I can get my own dates."**

"**Yeah, you can, but you don't."**

**Sam looked straight at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"**

"**Nothin'," Dean evaded. "What do you got?" He took a seat beside me, across from Sam.**

"**Mark and Anne Telesca of New Paltz, New York were both found dead in their home just a few days ago."**

"**Mm-hm." Dean looked back at the bar where the girls were waiting. Man, he must have been horny. I blushed just for thinking that.**

"**Their throats were slit; there were no prints, no murder weapons." Dean wasn't paying attention. "Dean?" Dean turned to look at Sam. "No prints, no murder weapons, and all the doors and windows were locked from the inside."**

**Dean shrugged. "Could just be a garden-variety murder, you know, not our department."**

"**No." Sam shook his head. "Dad says different."**

**That got Dean's attention. "What do you mean?"**

"**Look," Sam said, turning John's journal around so Dean could see. "Dad noted three murders in the same area of upstate New York." I looked closer at the journal. It read like chicken scratch. Their dad's handwriting sucked. "The first one, right here, 1912, the second one in 1945, and the third in 1970. The same M.O. as the Telesca's-the throats were slit, the houses were locked from the inside. Now, so much time passed between the murders that nobody checked the pattern, except for Dad. He always kept his eyes peeled for another one."**

"**And now we got one."**

"**Exactly." Sam nodded.**

"**All right, I'm with ya. It's worth checkin' out." Sam nodded. "We can't pick this up till the first thing, though, right?"**

"**Yeah." Sam seemed slightly confused.**

"**Good," Dean said cheerfully and got up from the table.**

"**Dean?" Sam said, annoyed. Dean ignored him and went over to the bar.**

**I rolled my eyes. "Is he always like that?"**

"**Sadly, yes," Sam answered.**

**Oh. So he was _that_ type of guy.**

**------------- -**

**The next morning, Dean was back in the motel room by the time I woke up. Huh. Well, at least he hadn't given that girl false hope by waking up next to her.**

**I didn't agree with humpin' and dumpin', but I understood why Dean did it. We didn't stay in one place for very long, so you couldn't actually _have_ a relationship.**

**It struck me as weird that I was probably the only girl that Dean was close to, emotionally, anyway; maybe not for all time, but as of that moment. It didn't bother me, really. It was just weird.**

**Dean was asleep on the other bed and Sam was out getting coffee, I was pretty sure, because he wasn't in the room.**

**I got up, went to my bag, got some clothes, and went in the bathroom to take a shower.**

**By the time I was done, Sam was back. My coffee was on the nightstand by my bed.**

"**Dean, get up," Sam said. "We have to go to the Telesca's house."**

**Dean groaned and brought his arm up to his eyes and covered them. He probably had a hangover. Oh well, his own fault. I felt no sympathy whatsoever…mostly. We could stop at a store and get some Excedrin or something on the way to the Telesca's.**

"**Dean," I said. "Come on. Sam's got coffee and I can get you some headache medicine, but you have to get up first."**

**Slowly, but surely, Dean got up and got dressed and then we piled into the car. I was in the backseat again. Dean wasn't in the driver's seat this time; Sam was.**

**About two miles up the road, we stopped at a convenience store and I bought a big bottle of headache medicine. After I paid for it, I went back out to the car, planning on giving Dean two of the pills, but he was asleep. He didn't look comfortable. He was propped up against the passenger side door, his head leaning against the window.**

**I got in the backseat and Sam started to car. Within ten minutes we'd reached our destination.**

**Dean was still asleep in the passenger seat. Sam and I looked at each other, silently agreeing we should leave him like that. So we got out of the car and walked toward the front door of the Telesca house. There wasn't any yellow crime-scene tape which meant the police were done with it.**

**Sam picked the lock as I watched. I didn't think I'd ever be able to do that. It took him about thirty seconds to unlock and open the door. Then we went in.**

**What I assumed was the living room was bare. There was no furniture to be seen.**

"**Where's all their stuff?" I asked.**

**Sam shook his head. He didn't know. He pulled an EMF meter out of his jacket. "You know how to use this?"**

"**The red lights, plus the noise, mean paranormal activity," I said. **

"**Right." He handed me the one in his hand and pulled another one out of his jacket. "You want upstairs or downstairs?"**

"**Downstairs is fine," I said. It was closer to the door.**

"**All right. Check everything. Even if it seems stupid."**

**I nodded and watched him go towards the stairs. I then went down a little hallway that lead to the kitchen. I was planning on starting from the back of the house and working my way to the front. In the way-back of the house, there was a pantry type thing.**

**The EMF didn't go off so I moved back to the kitchen. I pointed the EMF at everything in the room. Same story. No EMF.**

**Not to mention I wasn't getting any vibes from the house itself. The house was making me uncomfortable, though. The whole thing was all too familiar to me. The couple having their throats slit in their home…no signs of break in, no murder weapon.**

**It reminded me of what had happened to my mom, but the demon wouldn't have had any reason to go after these two people. Would it? Not that a demon _needed_ a reason to kill people.**

**This house was the kind my mom could've called home. Fancy and big. Heck, my old house had been like this. It had been big and fancy just like this one.**

**Memories were flashing through my mind and I knew if I didn't find something to keep busy I'd lose control of my emotions.**

**I walked towards the stairs, but stopped because I saw Sam coming down them.**

"**Find anything?" we asked at the same time and we both smiled.**

"**No," Sam said. "There's no furniture up here either. And no ghosts."**

"**No ghosts for me either."**

**We made our way back to the car and Dean was still asleep. He'd apparently woken up at some point, though, because he had sunglasses on now.**

"**Watch this," Sam said, running towards the driver's side. The window was open, so Sam stuck his arm in and beeped the horn.**

**Dean jumped up, but then grabbed his head. "Man, that is so not cool." He laid his head back against the window.**

**Sam and I started laughing as we got in the car. "You are so mean," I said, punching Sam on the arm playfully.**

"**Yeah," Dean agreed. "What she said."**

"**We just swept the Telesca house with the EMF. It's clean. And last night, while you were-" Sam rolled his eyes,"-out…"**

**Dean grinned. "Good times."**

**Sam picked up where he'd left off. "I checked the history of the house. No haunting, no violent crimes, nothing strange about the Telesca's themselves either." He must have done that while I'd been asleep, because I didn't remember him doing it.**

**Dean pulled his sunglasses off and sat up. I looked around for the Excedrin bottle and finally found it on the floor in the backseat.**

"**All right, so if it's not the people and it's not the house, then, uh…maybe it's the contents-a cursed object or somethin'."**

**I fought with the cap on the bottle for a few seconds and then it came off. I got two tablets out and brought my hand to the front seat. "Here."**

**Dean looked at me and took the pills from me. "Thanks." I nodded.**

"**Anyway, the house is clean," Sam said again.**

"**Yeah, I know. You said that," Dean said.**

"**No, he means it's empty. There's nothing there. No furniture, nothing."**

"**Where's all their stuff?" Dean looked at each of us. I shrugged. How was I supposed to know?**

**------------- -**

**Sam had made a few phone calls had found out that the Telesca's stuff had gone to a local auction house that was owned by some guy named Daniel Blake.**

**So we were now parking in front of the auction house. There were other, very expensive, cars there, too, so I assumed there was something going on.**

"**Dean, we should dress the part for this one. I mean, this looks like a pricey place." I'd been to a few auctions in my time. People with money went to them and they weren't dressed in everyday clothes.**

"**We'll be fine," Dean insisted.**

"**If you say so."**

**We got out of the car and went towards the entrance of the building. When we walked inside, I started looking around. Most of the pieces were ugly. They weren't art, in my opinion.**

**Sam and Dean were looking around also. They looked so out of place here and I _felt_ out of place. People were looking at us as if they knew we didn't belong here.**

**We started walking forward. "Silent auctions, estate sales-it's like a garage sale for W.A.S.P.'s, if you ask me," Dean said.**

**We walked past a tray that had food on it-I was pretty sure it was mini-quiche-and he picked a piece up and put it in his mouth.**

"**Can I help you?" some guy said from behind us and we turned around to look at him. I could tell by his attire that he either owned the place or worked here.**

"**I'd like some champagne, please," Dean said with his mouth full. I could tell by the facial expression on the guy's face that he was offended.**

**I hit Dean on the arm. "He's not a waiter, Dean."**

**Sam stepped forward. "I'm Sam Connors." Sam moved his hand to shake the other guys hand, but the guy just looked at it. Sam dropped his hand back down to his side. "This is my brother, Dean, and my friend, Alyson. We are art dealers with Connors Limited."**

**I was a what? I was only seventeen. That wasn't possible. If this guy believed that, he was dumber than he looked.**

**I tried to keep my face neutral as the guy looked us up and down. I could tell he thought he was better than us. I wanted to smack the superiority off him.**

"**You're art dealers?" He was skeptical and, hey, who wouldn't be? We didn't look the part. I would probably brag about me being right later. Maybe.**

"**That's right," Sam said.**

"**I'm Daniel Blake. This is my auction house. Now, this is a private showing, and I don't remember seeing you on the guest list."**

**That was his way of nicely telling us to leave. Sam looked like he was willing to accept that and, really, I was, too. Dean, however, seemed to have other plans.**

"**We're there, Chuckles. You just need to take another look." Dean was steadily eating and as a waiter walked by with a tray of champagne, Dean took one. "Oh, finally." He brought the glass to his nose and sniffed.**

**I knew he was just mocking Mr. Blake, but I glared at him anyway. He was going to make the wrong person angry one day.**

**Dean started walking farther into the auction house and Sam and I didn't have any other choice but to follow him.**

**We looked at a few things and only one thing appealed to me-a small beaded lamp. It was antique, but it was pretty. It had belonged to the Telesca's.**

**As we got closer to the back of the store, I realized there was a set of stairs leading to an upper level. Near the stairs there was a painting of three kids and two adults, who I assumed were the parents.**

**The painting gave me the creeps, sent chills down my spine, even.**

"**Guys. I think I found what we're looking for," I said and they looked in the direction of the painting.**

"**Why?" Dean asked.**

"**I got the chills just looking at that thing."**

"**That's 'cause it's ugly," Dean said, grinning. He then got serious. "So you're spider-sense is tingling?"**

"**Yeah. I don't appreciate being compared to a guy with a radioactive spider bite, but, yeah."**

**We all looked at the painting closer. There was a razorblade in the right-hand corner. That couldn't have been coincidence, could it?"**

"**A fine example of American primitive, wouldn't you say?"**

**We all turned to see where the voice had come from. There was a woman in a knee-length black dress coming down the stairs.**

**I had no idea what she was talking about; art had never been my thing. Sam looked back at the painting and seemed to be confused by what she'd said. Dean was checking the girl out-shamelessly, might I add-and he ended up hitting Sam on the shoulder. He didn't get that some guys could actually think with their brain and not their penises.**

"**Well," Sam said, looking at the woman again, "I'd say it's more Grant Wood than Grandma Moses." The woman made her way to us, smiling along the way. "But you knew that. You just wanted to see if I did."**

"**Guilty. And clumsy. I apologize." She and Sam shook hands. "I'm Sarah Blake." Hm. She was related to the owner with a superiority complex. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not, but she seemed nice enough.**

**I watched as Dean picked up more food off of a passing tray.**

"**I'm Sam. This is my-" Sam paused because Dean was stuffing his face, "-brother, Dean. And this is our friend, Alyson."**

"**Hi." I smiled and she smiled back, but looked at Dean.**

"**Dean?"**

"**Hm?"**

"**Can we get you some more mini-quiche?"**

"**Hm-mm, I'm good, thanks."**

**She turned back to Sam. She was still smiling, so I assumed Dean hadn't offended her. "So, can I help you with something?"**

"**Yeah, actually. What can you tell us about the Telesca estate?"**

"**The whole thing's pretty grisly, if you ask me, selling their things this soon. But, Dad's right about one thing. Sensationalism brings out the crowds-even the rich ones."**

**She and Sam smiled at each other and I could tell they were attracted to each other. I looked at Dean and it looked like he knew it too.**

"**Is it possible to see the provenances?"**

**It looked like Sarah was going to say something, but her dad came up behind her. "I'm afraid there isn't any chance of that."**

"**Why not?" Sam asked.**

"**You're not on the guest list," Mr. Blake answered. "I think it's time to leave."**

"**Well, we don't have to be told twice," Dean said.**

"**Apparently, you do."**

"**Okay, it's all right," Sam said. "We don't want any trouble. We'll go." I grabbed Dean by his jacket and started pulling him away from Mr. Blake because he looked about ready to cuss him out. I mean, I had a few choice words I would've liked to say myself, but it wasn't worth getting into trouble over.**

**When we got outside, I let go of Dean's jacket. We'd reached minimum safe-distance.**

"**So, what were you talking about in there?" Dean asked. "Grant Wood? Grandma Moses?"**

"**Art history course. It's good for meetin' girls." **

**Dean looked at me and then back at Sam. "It's like I don't even know you." He looked back at me. "You don't like that stuff, do you?"**

**I shook my head. "I mean, it's not like I think art sucks or anything. It's boring to me, though. Music is better. Although, some might call that a form of art…and if that's the case then art is awesome…," I trailed off because both Sam and Dean were grinning at me in amusement. "What?" I asked. They didn't answer. "What?"**

"**Nothin'," Sam said. "It's just…you're yammering. You haven't done that in a while."**

**Oh. Yeah. The last time I'd done that was when I'd first met them. Before I'd found my mom, dead, in the house.**

**I looked at them and blushed. I knew my yammering got on some people's nerves, but these two guys seemed endeared by it.**

**That was cool and it calmed my embarrassment down a bit. I was just happy I could be myself around them. It proved I was comfortable with them.**

**------------- -**

**We ended up at another motel. The room looked like it had come out of a bad disco movie. The walls were black with white circles and the furniture was made out of metal, but they had white furry seat covers. I didn't know what I should have expected; the motel was called The Boogie Inn. We'd only gotten one room again and I was pretty sure that was the way it was going to be from now on.**

"**You were saying something earlier about a providence?" Dean said, going through his bag.**

"**Provenance," Sam corrected. "It's a certificate of origin, like a biography, you know? We can use 'em to check the history of the pieces, see if anything's got a freaky past."**

"**Like that creepy painting," I reminded him.**

"**Yeah, well, we're not gettin' anything out of Chuckles, but, uh, Sarah?" Dean smirked.**

"**Yeah." Sam nodded. "Maybe you can get her to write it all down on a cocktail napkin."**

**I grinned. Go, Sam. It didn't offend Dean, it was all in good fun.**

"**Not me," Dean said.**

"**Oh, no, no, no, no," Sam said quickly. "Pickups are you thing, Dean."**

"**But Sarah was so totally into you. All you have to do is ask," I said softly. Really, it was none of my business, but I was trying to make him feel like he wasn't being forced to do something. It was his choice.**

"**Yeah, and it wasn't my butt she was checkin' out," Dean said and I rolled my eyes.**

"**In other words," Sam said, sounding defeated, "you want me to use her to get information."**

"**Sometimes, you gotta take one for the team." Dean handed him his cell phone. "Call her."**

**Sam sighed and took the phone from Dean. He then walked outside the motel room. I assumed he didn't want us to hear that particular conversation-not that I blamed him. It _was_ personal, after all.**

**I walked over to Dean and hit him hard on the arm.**

"**Ow! What was that for?"**

"**You are so pushy."**

"**Why?"**

"**You sound like you're trying to loan him to Sarah for a day or two."**

"**He needs to have fun," Dean insisted.**

"**His idea of fun is different than yours, Dean. What he wants from this girl is different from what you would want. He wants an emotional connection, but he is scared to get too close to her because he doesn't want to be hurt again. He doesn't want _her_ to be hurt."**

**Dean looked at me for a second. "You know about Jessica." It wasn't a question, so I didn't answer. "Sam told you?"**

"**Well, we started talkin' and I asked and, yeah, he told me." Dean looked surprised that Sam had told me, but he didn't look angry so I continued. "Anyway, he probably just thinks it's a waste of time because we're gonna have to leave anyway. He's not gonna be here, so he probably figures _why bother_?"**

**Sam chose that moment to walk in. "Why bother with what?"**

"**Being alive if you don't have fun," Dean said pointedly to Sam.**

**I shook my head and Sam rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I need to borrow the car. I have to pick her up at seven."**

**Dean seemed extremely happy about that. You'd think he was the one who had the date.**

**------------- -**

**Dean and I were alone in the motel room; Sam had gone to dinner with Sarah. He'd been in a casual-but-nice suit, so I assumed he was taking her somewhere semi-fancy.**

**Dean was sitting on the bed going through the weapons he and Sam had brought in earlier. He was planning on cleaning them and he wanted me to watch how it was done. He hadn't really said anything to me other than that and I kinda figured he was mad at me for hitting him.**

"**Hey, Dean?" I asked softly.**

"**Hm?"**

"**Are we okay?"**

**He looked up at me, confused. "Yeah, why wouldn't we be?"**

"**The only thing you've said to me is to watch you clean the guns. I mean, I kind of went off on you earlier, and I just wanted you to know I didn't mean anything by it. That was just me running my mouth."**

"**Yeah. We're good. And, you know, it's not like you were wrong. Sam and I _are_ different when it comes to stuff like that. And the whole Jessica thing. I get it. You shut down, cut everybody out so you don't get hurt." He stopped talking and went back to cleaning his gun.**

**I noticed he did that a lot. He'd open up a little bit, but then he'd close right back down. It wasn't annoying to me, really. I understood it.**

"**Can I tell you something?" I asked and he seemed grateful for the subject change. "I thought it might have been the demon. When I was in the Telesca house I thought-" I broke off. Opening up wasn't easy for me either.**

"**Because of how it happened?" Dean asked.**

"**Yeah. I'm glad it wasn't, though. I'm glad we found that painting."**

**Dean nodded in understanding, but seemed like he didn't know what to do other than that.**

"**Anyway," I said, "about the painting. What do you think it is? Is it cursed or something?"**

"**Could be." Dean nodded. "But it's more likely that one of the people in the painting is haunting it."**

"**You mean one of them died and latched onto the painting?"**

"**Yup."**

**I didn't know why a spirit would latch onto a _painting_, but everything in my life was weird anyway, so…whatever**

**------------- -**

**By the time Sam got back, Dean was finished cleaning the guns and was now sharpening knives. I would _not_ be doing that anytime soon. I'd probably end up cutting myself by accident.**

**Sam was sitting in a chair, going over some papers that Sarah had given him. His dad's journal was on the table in front of him.**

"**So, she just handed the providences over to you?" Dean asked from the bed.**

"**Provenances," Sam corrected, slightly annoyed.**

**I was sitting right beside Dean and he looked at me. "Pro-provenances?" It was like he was asking me if he was saying it right. It was endearing, but silly. I smiled and tried to keep from laughing. It didn't work.**

"**We've been through this once already," I answered.**

"**Yeah, we have," Sam said. "Anyway, I went back to her place, I got a copy of the papers."**

"**And?" Dean asked, still sharpening the knife.**

"**And nothing, that's it. I left."**

"**You didn't have to con her or do any special favors or anything?" Dean asked.**

**I rolled my eyes and Sam just looked plain annoyed. "Dean, would you get your mind out of the gutter, please?"**

"**You know when this whole thing is done, we could stick around for a little bit."**

"**Why?"**

"**So you can take her out again. It's obvious you're into her, even I can see that."**

**Sam, who was still looking at the provenances, said, "hey, all right, I think I got something here."**

**Dean stopped sharpening the knife, got up from the bed, and walked over to Sam, who handed him the papers. "Portrait of Isaiah Merchant's family painted in 1910."**

"**Now, compare the names of the owner's with Dad's journal."**

**Dean sat on the other side of Sam and read the first name out loud. "First purchased in 1912 by Peter Simms." Dean looked down at his Dad's journal. "Peter Simms was murdered in 1912." He looked back and forth between the provenances and the journal. "Same thing in 1945. Huh. Same thing in 1970."**

"**Then stored until it was donated to a charity auction last month, where the Telesca's bought it. So, what do you think, it's haunted or cursed."**

**Dean shrugged. "Either way, it's toast."**

**------------- -**

**We ended up breaking into the auction house that night. Or, rather, _they_ did. I stayed in the car. They told me it would be easier for just the two of them to do it since it was an actual building and not just a house. I had no problem with staying in the car. I didn't want to be the one to get them caught.**

**I watched as they came back to the car and got in. I didn't see the painting.**

"**You couldn't find it?" I asked as they got situated.**

"**No, we did," Dean said. "We took it out back and burned it."**

"**Out back?" I asked. "Did all of it burn?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**It was an ugly-ass thing. If you ask me, we did the art world a favor," Dean said. He started the car and we were off.**

* * *

I know this chapter is way short compared to the last one, but that's okay. Anyway, I'm getting more reviews. YAY!!! Thanks to those who reviewed. And um, I will be doing each season separately, but they'll have basically the same name. Except I'll replace one with two or whichever number I'm on. I only have a vague idea about where I'm going with Alyson's character, but I know I don't want her to die anytime soon, so she'll be around for a while. I might actually do the rest of the episodes for this season because there's only three left after this one. But I'll probably pick and choose throughout season two because there are twenty-two of them and that would take forever to write.  
Oh and the reason she's not an integral part of the cases yet is because she doesn't really know what she's doing and she's just taking everything in stride, ya know. She kinda just thinks she should keep her mouth shut because she doesn't want to mess anything up.


	4. Provenance Part Two

**Chapter Seven**

**We went back to the motel and started packing the weapons back up. The hunt was over. It felt too easy to me, but I wasn't complaining. If it was done, it was done, which was good in my book because that meant whatever had killed those people couldn't do it anymore.**

"**So, what was so special about that particular painting?" I asked. I had thought about it before, but I hadn't really brought it up. "Aside from the fact that it could kill you because you owned it."**

"**It doesn't really matter," Dean said, picking up a gun. "We burned it. It was destroyed. Everything's good in the world again."**

"**So, what you're tellin' me is that I should shrug these cases off after they're done?"**

"**Pretty much," Dean answered. "You can't keep going over and over everything. It'll drive you nuts."**

**I nodded and realized it sounded pretty reasonable. "You're right, I guess."**

"**I've said it before…I'm always right."**

**I smiled, but rolled my eyes. Let him think that if it made him happy.**

**------------- -**

"**We've got a problem," was the first thing I heard the next morning. In fact, it was what had woken me up. I opened my eyes, alert, thinking something was seriously wrong.**

"**What is it?" I asked, sitting up. I was wide awake. I mean, Dean was downright frantic and I didn't know what was going on.**

"**I can't find my wallet."**

"**How is that my problem?" Sam, who was packing a bag, said and I silently agreed with him.**

"'**Cause I think I dropped it in the warehouse last night."**

**Sam paused. "You're kidding, right?"**

"**No." Dean started putting his jacket on and I got out of the bed. "It's got my prints, my ID-well, my fake ID, anyway. We've gotta get it before somebody else finds it."**

**Sam looked at me, irritated. "You wanna stay here or come with us?" His agitation wasn't directed at me, so I didn't get defensive.**

"**Give me one minute and I'll be ready."**

**The two guys nodded and I quickly got some clothes and went in the bathroom to change.**

**As soon as I was done, I grabbed my purse, which I had started putting in the same place every time we went somewhere new-on the table beside the beds-, and the three of us went outside to get in the car. I took the backseat again. I didn't even ask if I could drive. I figured if I was ever allowed to drive Dean would let me know.**

**We got to the auction house in record time and hopped out of the car. The place wasn't busy today so I figured there wasn't anything special going on.**

"**How do you lose your wallet, Dean?" Sam asked and Dean shrugged. We started looking everywhere and we didn't find it.**

**I froze when I saw Sarah walk into the room. She noticed us and walked forward. "Hey, guys." Sam had been looking at some white art piece, but turned to look at her.**

"**Sarah! Hey." He was trying to look nonchalant, but it wasn't working. He looked like he was a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.**

"**What are you doing here?"**

"**Uh, we-we're leaving town, and you know, we came to say good-bye." Sarah looked down sadly. I could tell she really liked him and I felt bad that we had to leave.**

**Dean stepped forward. "Oh, what are you talkin' about, Sam? We're stickin' around for at least another day or two." Sam looked at Dean, confused, but Sarah smiled brightly. "Oh, Sam, by the way, I wanted to give you that twenty bucks I owe you." Dean took out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. Sam looked annoyed and frustrated, but at least it wasn't with me. "I'm always forgettin'." Dean laughed and pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to Sam, who seemed like he didn't want to take it. Dean was trying to keep a straight face and I was trying not to laugh. "There ya go."**

**Sam looked at me and I shrugged, letting him know that I hadn't known Dean was planning this. Obviously, I couldn't have. I'd been asleep.**

"**Anyway," Dean said, grabbing my arm. "We'll leave you two crazy kids alone. We gotta go do something…somewhere."**

**I could've sworn I saw Sarah wink at him before he dragged me off.**

**We hadn't even made it to the car when Sam came out of the auction house and that didn't seem to please Dean very much.**

**He was still dragging me behind him. "Can I have my arm back, please?" He let go quickly. "Thank you."**

"**Guys," Sam said, catching up to us. "We have a problem." He looked at Dean. "A real one this time."**

"**What?"**

"**That painting is back in there."**

**Both Dean and I stopped walking. "How is that even possible?" I asked.**

"**I don't know," Sam said. "I mean, I don't understand. We burned the damn thing."**

"**Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious," Dean said sarcastically. "All right, we just need to figure out another way to get rid of it." Dean paused. "Any ideas?" He looked at both Sam and me.**

**I didn't know what he was looking at me for. They were better at this than me. I mean, I was new…they had more experience.**

"**Okay, all right, well, uh…in almost all the lore about haunted paintings, it's always the painting's subject that haunts them," Sam said, thinking out loud.**

"**Yeah?" Dean asked. "All right, so we need to figure out everything there is to know about that creepy-ass family in the creepy-ass painting." He paused. "What were their names again?"**

"**Merchant," I said automatically. "Isaiah Merchant." As long as it didn't have anything to do with directions I usually had a pretty good memory.**

"**You up for going to the library?" Sam asked. He was being polite so he was apparently over his grumpy spell.**

**I shrugged. "If that's what we have to do."**

**------------- -**

**This library was bigger than the one we'd gone to in Fitchburg, but we _were_ in New York now, so it didn't surprise me much.**

**What surprised me was the librarian here. He was an older man…not ancient, but old. That wasn't what got me, though. What caught my attention was how excited he'd seemed when we'd brought up Isaiah Merchant. He'd led us to a table and told us he'd be back in a minute, before he disappeared into a back room.**

**He came back with a small box full of papers. "I dug up every scrap of local history I could find. So, uh, are you three crime buffs?"**

"**Kind of," Dean answered. "Why do you ask?" The old man picked up the first thing that was in the box and handed it to Dean. It was a page from an old newspaper. I moved closer to Dean to read the headline: _Father Slaughters Family, Kills Self._**

"**Yeah, that sounds about right."**

"**The whole family was killed?" I asked.**

**The man nodded hurriedly. "It seems this Isaiah-he slits his kid's throats, then his wife, then himself. Now, he was a barber by trade-used a straight razor."**

**I imagined that in my head and shuddered. "Why would he do that? I mean, did he have a history of violence or something?"**

"**Well, let's look," he said, taking the paper back from Dean, beginning to read it. "Uh, people who knew him described Isaiah as having a stern and harsh temperament and controlled his family with an iron fist. Wife, two sons, adopted daughter…There were whispers that the wife was gonna take the kids and leave, which, of course, you know, in that day and age…" The man shrugged. "So, instead, Old Man Isaiah-well, he gave them all a shave." He made a slicing gesture with his hand and smiled.**

"**I don't think that's funny," I said coldly and the smile instantly fell from his face.**

"**Does it say what happened to the bodies?" Dean asked.**

"**It just says they were all cremated." His excitement had vanished, probably because of me, but I didn't care.**

**I saw Sam and Dean look at each other, annoyed, and I wondered what that was about.**

"**Anything else?" Sam asked politely.**

"**Yeah, actually." The librarian dug through the box. "I found a picture of the family. Its right here somewhere." He was still going through the box. "Right. Here it is."**

**He pulled it out and showed it to us. It was the same as the painting. To me anyway. But, obviously, Sam saw something I didn't because he asked for a copy of it.**

**As we made our way back to the car Sam brought up the fact that the picture of the painting and the actual painting were different.**

"**Meaning?" I asked. "The only difference I noticed is that one is on a canvas and the other is on paper."**

"**The dad is different," Sam answered. "The painting at the auction house, Isaiah is lookin' down. Picture here, Isaiah's lookin' out. The painting has changed."**

"**All right, so, you think Daddy Dearest is trapped in the painting?" I asked skeptically. This whole ghost-latching-onto-a-painting was still weird to me.**

"**Yeah, seems like it," Dean said.**

"**But if his bones are already dusted, then how are we gonna stop him?" Sam asked and I suddenly remembered a conversation we'd had a couple weeks back: You got rid of spirits by salting and burning the bones.**

**We got back in the car and Dean looked at Sam. "All right, well, if Isaiah's position changed, maybe some other things in the painting changed as well. It could give us some clues." Dean started the car and began driving.**

"**What, like a DaVinci Code deal?"**

**Dean paused like he didn't know what Sam was talking about. "I don't know. I'm still waitin' for the movie on that one."**

**I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, we gotta get back in and see that painting."**

**Dean nodded. "Which is a good thing because you can get some more time to crush on your girlfriend." He looked at Sam before returning his gaze to the road.**

"**Dude, enough already," Sam said. He clearly wasn't amused.**

"**What?" Dean asked.**

"**What?" Sam repeated the question back. "Ever since we got here, you've been tryin' to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, all right?"**

"**Well, you like her, don't you?" Sam didn't say anything. "All right, you like her, she likes you, you're both consenting adults…," he trailed off and I shook my head. Dean had a one track mind, it seemed like.**

"**What's the point, Dean? We'll just leave. We always leave." Sam's voice was getting louder and louder.**

**I thought about getting my Ipod out of my purse, but with the way Sam was talking I'd be able to hear him over the music. I didn't really wanna say anything because I didn't want one of them to bite my head off. I mean, they were arguing back and forth and it was like they'd forgotten I was there.**

"**Well, I'm not talkin' about marriage, Sam."**

"**You know what? I don't get it. Why do you care if I hook up?"**

"**Because then maybe you wouldn't be so cranky all the time," Dean said simply and Sam shook his head.**

**We pulled into the motel parking lot and I opened the door before the car completely stopped moving. Dean parked and I got out. I didn't care if I didn't have a key to the room, I wanted out of the car. The conversation they'd been having was personal and I felt like I was intruding.**

**I was planning on waiting by the door, but they got out of the car and followed me.**

"**You know, seriously, Sam, this isn't about you just hookin' up, okay? I mean, I think this Sarah girl could be good for you." Dean opened the motel door and walked in, Sam and I following. "And I don't mean any disrespect, but I'm sure that this is about Jessica, right?" Sam looked at the floor, which was as good as saying yes. "Now, I don't know what it's like to lose somebody like that, but…I would think that she would want you to be happy. God forbid, have fun once in a while, wouldn't she?"**

**Sam smiled slightly, but there were tears in his eyes. "Yeah, I know she would."**

**I sat down on one of the beds and Dean plopped down beside me, jostling me towards him. I glared at him playfully, but moved back to my original place. It made me feel better, though. I mean, at least he was acknowledging my presence. I heard Sam sigh and I looked towards him. "Yeah, you're right. Part of this _is_ about Jessica. But not the main part."**

"**What's it about?" Sam didn't say anything and Dean shrugged. "Yeah, all right." I could tell that it bothered him, though, that Sam wouldn't tell him.**

"**Well, we still gotta see that painting," I directed at Sam, "which means you still gotta call Sarah, so…"**

**Sam looked at me and nodded, picking up his phone. He went outside to talk this time, too.**

**I moved to the side of the bed and laid down, taking a deep breath. It had been a long day and I was a little tired.**

"**So…you regret coming with us yet?" Dean asked guardedly, lying down beside me. He wasn't too close, so I didn't mind. I noted the sound of his voice…it was like he was expecting me to get up and walk away because I was scared or something.**

"**No," I said, honestly. "All three of us are still alive, so we're obviously doing something right."**

**Dean's lips curved into a smile that reached his eyes. It was the first genuine smile I'd seen him make. I liked it. It was nice.**

"**You know, um, what you said about freakin' us out…I get that."**

"**That I might freak you out?"**

"**No," Dean said. "After that, when you said that you were scared we might leave. I get it." He paused and for a second I thought the conversation was over, but then he continued. "Most of the people I've ever cared about has left me one way or another." He looked at me. "I don't know if Sam told you or not, but when Sam left for college, he and Dad got into a huge fight. Dad told Sam that if he left not to come back."**

**He didn't say it, but I got the point. It was that Sam had chosen college over his family; over Dean. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything.**

"**Anyway, after Dad went missing, I picked Sam up from school to help me look for him. The place we'd thought he'd been didn't pan out. He'd left already. When I took Sam back to school…" Dean trailed off.**

**I got it. "Jessica was dead," I finished for him and he nodded.**

**Sam burst back into the room and both Dean and I jumped slightly.**

"**We have to go, now. Sarah's Dad sold the painting."**

**------------- -**

**As soon as Sam had said that the painting had been sold again, Dean and I had jumped off the bed and the three of us made our way quickly to the car. Sam had gotten an address that belonged to some woman named Evelyn from Sarah.**

**By the time we got there it was about eleven o'clock. This house was more of a mansion and it had bars on the windows. There was a light on in the house, so maybe Evelyn was still up.**

**We pulled up behind a Jeep and Sarah got out of it. "Sam, what's happening?" she asked, coming up to the car.**

"**I told you, you shouldn't have come," Sam said.**

**Sam, Dean, and I got out of the car and went towards the front door and Dean started knocking on the door.**

"**You said Evelyn might be in danger. What kind of danger?"**

"**Just danger," I said simply.**

"**I can't knock this sucker down," Dean said, referring to the door. "I gotta pick it."**

**Dean tried picking the lock as I watched.**

"**What are you guys, burglars?" Sarah said incredulously.**

"**Sarah," I said, looking at her. "I can promise you we don't want to steal that painting."**

**Dean finally got the door open and he walked in.**

**Sam turned to Sarah before she could follow. "Look, you really should wait in the car; it's for your own good."**

**I rolled my eyes before going in after Dean. I didn't think Sam's concern was going to calm Sarah down.**

"**The hell I will. Evelyn's a friend," I heard Sarah say. "Evelyn?" she called out.**

**Evelyn was sitting in a chair, by the fireplace, and she wasn't moving. The painting was above the fireplace and my eyes roamed over it. The dad was looking down at the daughter, who was holding a doll in one arm. The chills came by looking at it just like the last time.**

**Sarah stepped forward. "Evelyn?" There was no answer. "It's Sarah Blake. Are you all right?" She moved closer to the chair.**

**I knew what was going to happen before it happened. Sarah reached out and put her hand on Evelyn's shoulder. Evelyn's head tilted back and revealed that her throat had been cut.**

**Sarah screamed and I could tell she'd seen the painting change. The dad was now looking straight ahead.**

**I was vaguely aware of Sam leading Sarah out of the house, but other than that I didn't know much of anything. I was still looking at Evelyn's neck. It was worse than my mom's had been. You could actually see the muscles where the throat had been cut open. Thankfully, I have a strong stomach.**

"**Alyson, come on, we've gotta go," I heard Dean say.**

**I felt a sort of déjà vu fall over me.**

"**Hey," he said. "You okay?"**

**I shook my head. I wasn't. Ghosts and demons I could deal with. Dead human bodies, I couldn't. I would never get used to it.**

**On the one hand, I thought that was a good thing because at least I'd always have that innocence. But, on the other hand, it was bad because I couldn't afford to go into shock every time something like this happened because, chances were, it would happen a lot.**

"**Hey," Dean said, stepping in front of me, blocking my view of Evelyn. I looked up at him. "Stay with me. Don't look at her."**

**As I said before…déjà vu. He'd said basically the same thing when he'd been with me after I'd found my mom.**

"**Come on. Let's get you outta here," he said, grabbing my arms gently. He turned me around so I definitely couldn't see the body.**

**I felt his hand on the middle of my back and he was pushing me slowly towards the door.**

**When we got outside, he walked me to the car and opened the back door and I got in, but let my legs dangle out the doorway. He squatted down in front of me.**

"**You okay now?"**

"**Been better," I said honestly. I looked up and saw Sam coming towards us with Sarah in tow.**

**Dean didn't stand up or move away from me, for which I was grateful.**

"**Hey," Sam said. "You all right?" he directed at me.**

**I nodded, but didn't say anything. Now that I was out of that house, I kinda felt bad for freaking out. It made me feel even worse that they were being so patient with me. I was holding them back, I was sure of it.**

"**What happens now?" Sarah asked.**

"**You need to call the police," Sam said. "We can't be here when they get here."**

"**But they'll want to know why you were here and…" Sarah trailed off.**

"**Don't tell them we were with you," Dean said.**

"**Why not?"**

"**It's a long story," I spoke up. "And, frankly, it's better if you don't know it." I hadn't meant to sound snippy, but it had come out that way. I realized she was acting the way I would have…the way I had when my mom had died and I felt bad for snapping.**

"**Sarah, please, just trust us," Sam said and he must have gotten to her because she nodded.**

**Sam ended up telling her where we were staying in case she needed to get in touch with us and I ended up apologizing for snapping and she accepted.**

**Dean was busy cleaning his prints off of the door; he'd been the only one to actually touch anything.**

**We left after Sarah called the cops and we went back to the motel.**

**------------- -**

**It had been two hours since we'd gotten back to the motel and I hadn't gone to sleep yet and I didn't think I was going to be able to, period.**

**Dean had treated me like a glass doll since we'd left Evelyn's house and I couldn't blame him. I _had_ sort of gone into shock. It kind of embarrassed me that Evelyn's death had gotten to me.**

**As soon as we'd gotten back to the motel I'd locked myself in the bathroom because I'd thought I was gonna lose it. It wasn't just Evelyn that was getting to me, it was the whole case.**

**Neither of the boys had bothered me while I was in the bathroom, for which I was grateful. They probably knew I needed a few minutes to pull myself together.**

**By the time I got out of the bathroom I felt a little better. Dean, who'd been at the table with Sam's laptop in front of him, looked up at me, concerned, but didn't say anything.**

"**I'm okay," I said and I semi-meant it. "But I've been better. So I'm somewhere in the middle." I looked around. "Where's Sam?"**

"**He went to get coffee," Dean said.**

"**Oh. We're not getting any sleep tonight, are we?"**

"**Nope." I went towards the bed and sat down. "You wanna help me research?" he asked, sounding like he knew I needed something to keep me busy, so I wouldn't keep thinking about Evelyn or my mom.**

"**What are you looking for?" I asked. I knew it had something to do with the Merchant family, but if I was thinking about _that_ family then I wasn't thinking about mine.**

"**We need to find something other than the painting that Isaiah is latched onto. If he's been cremated, then something has to be keeping him here."**

**Dean brought the laptop over to the bed and sat down beside me. I scooted back so I could see over his shoulder. He was looking up Isaiah Merchant and anything that was associated with him.**

**Sam walked in with a French vanilla cappuccino-I smiled because he'd remembered that's what I liked- for me and a regular coffee for him and Dean.**

"**I believe I'm slowly becoming addicted to caffeine," I said, sipping from the cup.**

**Sam smiled at me faintly. I could tell he was thinking about Sarah. He was probably wondering if she was okay. It was a valid question. I mean, she had basically screamed her head off when we'd found Evelyn and we'd just left her there to deal with the police.**

"**Guys?" I said. "You realize we still need to see that painting and find out what else is different."**

**Sam nodded. "Did anyone else notice that the painting moved?"**

"**Yeah," I said and Dean nodded. "I think Sarah saw it. I saw her looking at it when she screamed."**

"**She probably thought she was going crazy," Dean said.**

**There was a knock on the door and Sam, who was the one standing up, went to open the door. Sarah was there and Sam moved out of the way so she could come in.**

"**Hey," he said. "Are you all right?"**

"**No, actually." She had tears in her eyes, so that much was obvious. "I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn's _alone_ and found her like that."**

"**Thank you," Sam said sincerely.**

"**Don't think me. I'm about to call 'em right back if you don't tell me what the hell is going on. Who's killing these people?"**

**Sam, Dean, and I looked at each other, wondering what to say. Dean raised his eyebrows, giving Sam the go-ahead to tell the truth.**

**Sam looked at Sarah. "What."**

"**What?" Sarah had no idea what Sam was talking about.**

"**It's not who…it's what is killing these people."**

**Sarah shook her head. She was obviously confused. "Sarah," I said, from the bed. "You saw that painting move."**

"**No," she said, turning away from us. "No, I was seeing things. It's impossible." Denial. I'd gone through that when I'd found my mother, dead, on the floor. It hadn't lasted very long and I hoped hers wouldn't.**

"**Yeah, well, welcome to our world," Dean said. He wasn't being mean, he was just being Dean. I hit him on the arm, anyway.**

"**Sarah, I know this sounds crazy," Sam said, "but we think that that painting is haunted."**

**She turned back around and looked at Sam. "You're joking." Nobody said anything, which was just as good as telling her we weren't kidding. "You're _not_ joking." She looked at the floor. "God, the guys I go out with."**

"**Sarah, think about it," Sam said. "Evelyn, the Telesca's…they both had the painting, and there have been others before that. Wherever this thing goes, people die, and we're just tryin' to stop it. And that's the truth."**

**Sarah nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, then I guess you better show me. I'm coming with you."**

"**What? No," Sam said. "Sarah, no, you should just go home. This stuff can get dangerous, and-" he broke off. Dean and I looked at each other, somewhat sadly, and then looked back at Sam. "And I don't want you to get hurt."**

"**Look, you guys are probably crazy," Sarah said, stepping closer to Sam, "but if you're right about this…well, me and my dad sold that painting and we might have gotten those people killed." She paused. "I'm not saying I'm not scared, 'cause I am scared as hell, but I'm not gonna run and hide, either." Sarah walked to the door and opened it, looking back at us. "So, are we going or what?" She walked out.**

**I felt a respect for Sarah that hadn't been there before. I mean, I'd liked her from the start, but now I respected her.**

"**Sam?" Dean said and Sam turned to look at him. "Marry that girl." He pointed towards the door that Sarah had just walked out of. I could tell that he was half-serious.**

**------------- -**

**We'd gone to Evelyn's and, thankfully, the police hadn't been there. Sarah and I had ridden in the backseat. Neither of us had said anything. I hadn't known what to say and she probably hadn't, either.**

**By the time we'd gotten to Evelyn's, I was half-asleep in the backseat. I hadn't wanted to move, but I hadn't wanted to stay in the car, either. So I'd gotten out of the car and followed Sam and Dean up the front steps. It was dawn, so I could actually see without a flashlight.**

**Sarah and I were now waiting for Dean and Sam to get the door open. Sam was trying to pick the lock and Dean used a knife to break the police seal.**

"**Uh, isn't this a crime scene?" Sarah said, as Sam opened the door.**

"**Well, you've already lied to the cops. What's another infraction?" Dean said, shrugging.**

**The four of us walked into the house and into the living room where the painting was. The thing that caught my attention wasn't the painting; it was the fact that the chair Evelyn had been sitting in had a huge bloodstain on it.**

**I saw Sam go towards the painting and take it off the wall. He set it up on one of the chairs that didn't have blood on it and began looking at it closely.**

"**Um, aren't you worried that it's gonna, you know, kill _us_?"**

"**No," Sam said, "it seems to do its thing at night. I think we're all right in daylight."**

**I moved closer to Dean, who was looking at the picture we'd gotten from the library.**

"**What are you guys looking for?" Sarah asked.**

"**Well, if the spirit's changing aspects of the painting, maybe it's doing so for a reason," Dean answered.**

**I took the paper from him and Dean mock-glared at me. I looked at the actual painting and then at the picture in my hand. "The razor." I handed the picture back to Dean. "It's closed in this one, but it's open in that one."**

**Dean looked back and forth between the painting and the picture. "Good job," he said. "And it makes sense considering how these people died." **

**I felt like smiling. I'd done a good job. Oh, dear, I needed sleep. I was becoming unnaturally giddy and considering the circumstances, giddy was not a normal reaction.**

"**Hey, look at this," Sam said. "The painting _in_ the painting."**

**In the picture from the library, Isaiah and his family were standing in front of a painting of what looked like mountains. In the actual painting the family was standing in front of a painting of a building.**

"**Looks like a crypt or a mausoleum or something," Dean said. He looked closer. "There's a word on there but it's too small to see."**

**I looked around and saw a crystal clear ashtray. He could use that to magnify the word in the painting. I handed it to him and he put it up to the painting. "Merchant," he said.**

"**So, what, their ashes are there or somethin'?" I asked.**

"**Maybe," Dean said. "Or maybe something else."**

"**So, we just check each graveyard until we find the one this thing is in?" Sarah asked.**

"**Yeah, pretty much," Sam said**

**------------- -**

**The first graveyard we went to held zero joy and the same with the second one.**

**By the time we got to the third one, I was so tired I felt like a walking zombie. "I think this ghost is just messing with us," I said. I rubbed my hands over my face to wake myself up. I just wanted my body on a bed for about twelve hours.**

"**So, this is what you guys do for a living?" Sarah asked.**

"**Not exactly. We don't get paid," Sam said.**

"**Well, Mazel Tov," she said and for some reason, probably the lack of sleep, I found that hilariously funny. I found myself giggling and, really, it was inappropriate. I mean, we were in a graveyard. It wasn't only inappropriate, it was disrespectful.**

**All three of them looked at me, but that didn't keep me from laughing.**

"**What have you been sniffing?" Dean asked. I could tell he was amused.**

"**I get like this when I haven't had enough sleep," I said. I mean, some people get grumpy when they haven't slept, I get hyper and giddy.**

"**Yeah, well, you're actin' like you're high," he said. "Or drunk."**

"**I have never been drunk or high," I said indignantly. "I'm just tired."**

**The four of us continued through the graveyard, me giggle-free, until Sam stopped walking. The rest of us stopped with him.**

"**Over there," he said, pointing to his left. There was a building, a mausoleum, with the name Merchant on the front of it.**

**We walked over to it and Dean opened the door. The first thing I noticed was cobwebs. Ew. That meant there were probably spiders. The walls were lined with four urns. There was a glass case that had a doll in it. It was the one the little girl had been holding in the painting. Or it looked like it anyway.**

"**Okay, that right there is the creepiest thing I've ever seen," Sarah said, moving towards the glass.**

**All four of us were in the mausoleum now and I started to feel a little claustrophobic.**

"**It was sort of a tradition at the time," Sam explained, looking at the doll. "Whenever a child died, they would preserve the kid's favorite toy in a glass case next to the headstone in a crypt."**

**I didn't even wanna know where he had learned that, so I didn't ask.**

"**You notice anything strange here?" Dean asked, looking at the urns.**

"**Uh, where do I start?" Sarah asked. Sam and I smiled.**

"**No," Dean said. "That's not what I mean. Look at the urns."**

**Sam and I looked at the wall where they were lined up. There were only four. The mom and the three kids' urns were lined up in a row.**

"**Daddy Dearest isn't here," I said.**

"**Well, where is he?" Sam asked.**

**------------- -**

**We were now back in the car and I knew we were headed to the Police Department, and I was vaguely aware of the conversation that was going on, but I wasn't actively listening.**

**As soon as I'd situated myself in the car, I'd pretty much fallen into a vegetative state. I didn't move an inch and I was half-way asleep. I could hear the conversation, but I didn't participate in it. I couldn't. My brain was beyond responding, I was so tired.**

"**I don't get it. What exactly are you going to do in there?" I heard Sarah ask and, for a minute, I didn't know what she was talking about. And then the small part of my brain that was still working figured that _there_ meant the Police Department.**

"**Search county death certificates. Try to find out what happened to Isaiah's body."**

"**How are you even gonna get through the door?"**

"**Lying and subterfuge, mostly," Sam said and I heard him laugh.**

**That was the last thing I heard and the next thing I knew I was waking up to the sound of three car doors closing. Sam, Dean, and Sarah were getting back in the car.**

**I sat up and groaned. My head and neck were killing me. My head should not have been hurting…or my neck, for that matter. How come my healing thing wasn't happening? That sucked.**

"**You okay?" Sam said, turning around in his seat.**

"**No," I said. "How long was I asleep?"**

"**At least an hour," Dean said. "I thought you'd have been out a lot longer than that."**

"**Me, too." I wished I had been. At least if I was asleep I wouldn't feel my headache and the headache medicine was in the motel room.**

**Note to self: Bring medicine with me next time.**

"**So, what'd you get?" Sam asked, turning back around to look at Dean. Dean had apparently been the one to go into the Police Department to get the information.**

"**Pay dirt," Dean said. He had a few papers with him and I guessed those were what he was talking about. "Apparently, the surviving relatives of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah that they didn't want him interred with the rest of the family. So, they handed him over to the county. The county gave him a pauper's funeral-economy style. Turns out he wasn't cremated, he was buried in a pine box."**

"**So, there _are_ bones to burn?" I asked.**

"**There are bones to burn," Dean said.**

"**Tell me you know where," Sam said.**

"**I know where," Dean said smugly. "We have to wait for nightfall, though. Diggin' up a grave in broad daylight is sorta…against the law."**

"**It's against the law, period, Dean," I said.**

"**Not if you don't get caught," he said and I grinned.**

"**That makes no sense."**

"**It makes perfect sense to me." I could tell he was just trying to get a rise out of me, so I didn't argue. I was too tired at that point.**

"**So, what do we do until tonight?" Sarah asked.**

"**Just wait," Sam said.**

"**At the motel, right?" I put in pleadingly. "Where there's a nice comfy bed and Excedrin?"**

"**You have a headache?" Dean asked, surprised. It seemed like the whole healing thing was on his mind too.**

"**Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's from exhaustion."**

"**Well, we'll head back to the motel and you can sleep," he said.**

"**Best idea ever," I told him and I could see him grin through the rearview mirror.**

**------------- -**

**I woke up around seven o'clock and that was only because Dean woke me up.**

"**Come on, we're gonna go eat," he said softly, shaking me gently.**

**I groaned. "Do I have to?"**

**I heard him chuckle. "You need to eat something."**

"**Can't you bring me something back?"**

**Dean sighed. "I'm not leaving you alone." I knew that. I didn't know why I'd even said anything. "Besides, if you don't get up now, you'll be up all night."**

"**Okay, okay," I said, opening my eyes. "I'm up. Where are we going?"**

"**Just some diner up the street."**

"**Okay, well, let me at least make myself presentable. My hair is probably a mess."**

**Dean rolled his eyes in amusement and shook his head.**

**I looked around and noticed for the first time that Sam wasn't there. "Where's Sam?"**

"**He and Sarah are waitin' in the car."**

**I looked at him. "Why didn't you say that? I would've gotten up sooner."**

**Dean shrugged. "Go do your hair…or whatever you're gonna do."**

**I went into the bathroom and shut the door. The bathroom wasn't all that big, but there was enough room to stretch.**

"**Hey," Dean said, through the door, "are you feelin' better?"**

**My neck was still a little sore, but my headache was gone. "Yeah, for the most part."**

**I looked in the mirror and was surprised that I didn't look _that_ bad. I mean, yes, my eyes had dark circles around them and my hair was all over the place, but other than that I looked okay.**

"**You know your brush isn't in there, right?" Dean sounded amused.**

"**No, actually, I didn't." I was used to putting my stuff in the bathroom, so I had assumed I'd put it there. I opened the door and Dean stood there holding my brush in his hand. I took it from him. "Thanks."**

**I ran it through my hair until the tangles came out and then I put the brush on the bathroom counter and then walked out.**

**I didn't think to change my clothes because we were just gonna dig up a grave after dinner, anyway. I realized something must have been wrong with me. I was learning how to hunt evil things and I was more or less okay with it. I was happy with it even.**

**Dean and I went outside and saw Sam and Sarah in the backseat of the car, waiting for us to come out.**

**Since Sam was in the backseat, I got to sit up front with Dean. I sadly realized I would probably never get to drive his car. His driver's seat wasn't the kind that could go back and forth…because the passenger seat was connected to the driver's seat. I figured the _whole_ seat could move up, but even if it could, the guys were so tall they wouldn't be able to ride up front with me if I was driving. Not to mention it would be an inconvenience to have to move it back and forth.**

**It took maybe five minutes to get to the diner. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries with a sweet tea. I wasn't too worried about the grease intake. I now got why Dean ate the way he did. If you're always on the go, it doesn't really matter how much fat you take in. You probably won't gain much weight anyway.**

**As the four of us sat at our table I realized that to the casual observer the four of us probably looked like we were double-dating. Sam and Sarah were sitting on one side of the table and Dean and I were sitting on the other. It didn't bother me. Let them think what they wanted.**

**Our food came out and I took a bite out of the burger. I hadn't realized how hungry I'd been until I started eating. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten, but I was pretty sure I hadn't had anything all day.**

**Maybe that was what Dean had meant about me needing to eat something. Apparently he'd been keeping up with my eating habits even if I hadn't.**

**It was kind of sweet, actually…in an obsessive-compulsive-I'm-watching-your-every-move kind of way. So…sweet, but creepy.**

**------------- -**

**As soon as we got done eating, Dean paid-I insisted on leaving the tip-and we left. We got in the car with the same seating arrangement.**

**I looked through the box of cassette tapes that Dean kept on the floor in the front seat. I was looking for that Foreigner tape we'd been listening to about a week ago. I found it and popped it into the radio.**

**The volume wasn't that high, so it was more like background music than anything else, but I sang along when _Hot Blooded_ came on, anyway.**

**Dean began tapping along to the song on the steering wheel. We made quite the pair.**

"**So," Sam said, from the backseat. "You never actually said which graveyard we were going to."**

"**Remember the first one we went to? That's where he's buried."**

**Suddenly a thought came to mind. Why would Isaiah's ghost lead us to that crypt? It must have known we'd figure out he hadn't been cremated.**

"**Hey, guys?" I said. "Does Isaiah _want_ to be put to rest or something? Because he's pretty much leading us right to his body. I mean, all the changes in the painting…it's like he wanted to be found."**

"**Either way," Dean said, "As soon as we burn the bones it should be over."**

"**Yeah," I said. "But that's what you said about burning the painting. And we all know how well _that_ worked."**

**I realized too late that I'd said too much. "You did what?" Sarah asked. "When did you burn it?"**

"**Um, two nights ago," Sam said guiltily.**

"**But two nights ago it was still at…" Sarah trailed off, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "You broke into the auction house?"**

**I turned around in the front seat to look at her. "Actually…_they_ broke in and I waited out in the car. Then they took it out back and burned it." I turned back around and _Cold As Ice_ came from the speakers.**

"**You are a snitch," Dean teased.**

"**What? It's not like I told the cops. Besides, she had already figured it out. I just filled in the details for her."**

"**You're still a snitch."**

**I continued singing along to the tape until we reached the cemetery. I cut the music off…respect for the dead and all that.**

"**Do you have the plot number?" I asked. "Please tell me you do."**

**Dean nodded. "I do. Which is a good thing because if I didn't it would take forever to find it."**

"**Yeah, I know. That's why I asked," I said smartly.**

"**Hey. I already have one smartass ridin' with me. I don't need another one."**

**I, being the mature person that I am, stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned.**

**When the car came to a stop and the four of us got out of the car, Dean and Sam grabbed two shovels from the backseat. I hadn't even known they'd been there, but what did I expect them to dig with, their hands?**

**Dean opened the trunk of his car and got out a can of what I assumed was lighter fluid or gasoline and then a container of salt. He handed me and Sarah flashlights.**

**Dean led us to where Isaiah was buried and he and Sam started digging.**

**------------- -**

**It took about two hours for Sam and Dean to finally get done digging. Sarah and I both had flashlights, so we shined them over the grave so the two guys could see what they were doing. I'd offered to help, but they'd refused.**

**Sarah had seemed pretty nervous, so I made small talk. Turns out her mom had died-something we had in common-about a year back.**

**She'd asked how I got into this weirdo-my word, not hers-life, so I'd told her about my mom. I hadn't told her about what had killed my mom, but a normal death wouldn't lead to demon-hunting, so I figured she would connect the dots.**

"**You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this," Sarah said. Sam looked up at her and then climbed out of the dirt to stand between me and Sarah.**

"**Yeah, well, this isn't exactly the first grave we've dug," Sam said. "Still think I'm a catch?" He and Sarah shared a smile. I could tell his profession didn't mean anything to her.**

**I watched as Dean brought his shovel down to get one last shovelful of dirt, but it hit the casket instead. Dean used the shovel to break open the coffin-if you could call it a coffin since it was only a pine box.**

**Inside the box were Isaiah's bones. They had cobwebs, but no bugs or anything, on them, which was probably a good thing because bugs creeped me out.**

**So, yeah, something was definitely wrong with me. Learning how to fight demons and spirits, I was okay with, but bugs creeped me out. What's wrong with that picture.**

**Dean got out of the hole and picked up the can of lighter fluid and started pouring it over the bones. Sam did the same with the salt.**

**Dean pulled out a book of matches and lit one, throwing it on the bones. "You've been a real pain in the ass, Isaiah."**

"**Yeah, good riddance," I said, watching the fire spread over the bones.**

"**So, the painting is harmless now?" Sarah asked.**

"**Yeah, it should be," Sam said. "But we're gonna bury the sucker, just in case."**

**That meant we had to go back to the mansion, but first we had to wait for the bones to burn completely.**

**------------- -**

**We pulled up to the mansion and Dean came to a stop. The seating arrangement was the same as it had been since dinner.**

"**Keep the motor running," Sam said, opening the door.**

"**I wanna come with you," Sarah said.**

"**You sure?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Okay," he said, and they both got out of the car. "We'll be back in a minute," Sam said, turning to look at Dean before he shut the door.**

**Dean looked at me and then reached over to turn the radio on. This song I didn't know came on. _I'm in love with a girl I can't live without. I'm in love but it feels like I'm wearing it out_.**

**Both Sam and Sarah turned around. I turned my face away so Sam wouldn't see me grinning. The song played for about ten more seconds, but then Dean shut it off.**

**I turned my head back around and shook my head in amusement.**

"**What?"**

"**Nothing. It's just…you're unbelievable sometimes."**

"**Hm. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"**

"**In this situation? I'm gonna go with good," I said. I heard a door slam and looked toward the front door of the mansion. "Um, where are Sam and Sarah?"**

**Dean got out of the car and I quickly did the same. We both ran up the steps and ducked under the yellow crime scene tape. Dean tried to break the door down, but it wouldn't budge.**

"**Dean?" I heard Sam through the door. "Hey! Is that you?"**

"**Yeah, you all right?" Dean's cell phone rang and I knew it was Sam because Dean answered with, "tell me you slammed the front door."**

"**No, it wasn't me. I think it was the little girl." I could still hear Sam; he must have been standing right behind the door.**

"**The girl? What girl?" Then it clicked. "The daughter?"**

"**Yeah, she's out of the painting. I think it might have been her all along."**

"**Hey, wasn't the dad looking down at her?" I asked Dean. "Maybe he was tryin' to warn us." Dang, my instincts were good. I had known the Isaiah thing hadn't felt right.**

**I saw Dean get the lock pick out of his jacket pocket and he knelt down to get to work on the door.**

"**Look, I'm trying to pick the lock, but the door won't budge."**

"**Well, then, break it down!"**

"**Okay, genius, let me grab my battering ram."**

"**Dean, the damn thing is coming!"**

"**Well, you're gonna have to hold it off until I figure somethin' out. Get some salt or iron."**

**Sam was obviously no longer behind the door because I couldn't hear his response.**

"**Sammy, you okay?" I sighed in frustration. This whole one-sided conversation thing was getting old fast. I reached up and took the phone from Dean-the only reason I had gotten it was because he'd been taken by surprise-and I put it on speaker phone.**

"**How are we gonna get rid of her?" I asked, handing the phone back to Dean.**

"**I don't know." Sam sounded surprised that he was talking to me. "She was already cremated. There's nothin' left to burn."**

"**Well, then, how's she still around?" Dean asked.**

"**There must be somethin' else." I heard Sarah say something, but I couldn't make out what it was. "Guys? Sarah says the doll might have the girls hair. Human remains-same as bones."**

"**The mausoleum," I said. Dean hung up and we ran to the car. I put my seatbelt on. It wasn't that I didn't trust Dean's driving, it was just that we were in a hurry…better safe than sorry and all that.**

**When we got to the gates of the cemetery, Dean didn't even slow down. He sped right through them, knocking them down. Man, this car was tough. We made our way to the mausoleum-car and all. We stopped in front of the mausoleum and got out of the car and raced towards it.**

**Dean opened the doors and went to the glass case with the doll in it and started banging on it with his fist and that didn't work. He brought his gun out of his jacket and at first I thought he was going to shoot the glass, but he only used the butt of the gun to hit it. That didn't work either.**

**I swear, if he had blond hair I would've told him he was having a blond moment. Hey, even the brightest of people had them sometimes. Besides, the blond I was talking about was more a state of mind than a hair color.**

**I cleared my throat. "Dean," he looked at me, "shoot it," I said obviously.**

**He blinked and looked at the gun. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed. He shrugged and moved away from the glass to stand in front of me and shot at it. He'd been shielding me from the shattering glass.**

**He used his gun to clear the rest of the glass away from the case and then he took the doll out.**

"**So, how come you didn't get the tinglies from this when we were here earlier?" Dean asked. He didn't sound angry, just curious.**

"**I don't know," I said honestly. "This is new to me, too, Dean. Best I can come up with is because she isn't latched on to this. It's just keeping her here."**

**Dean took a lighter from his pocket and lit the dolls hair on fire. The stench of burning hair reached my nose and I had to breathe through my mouth so that I wouldn't smell it.**

**We called Sam to make sure he was okay, which he was. Thank God. Literally.**

**Dean and I made our way back to the car, relief pouring off of both of us. We made our way back to the mansion to pick up Sam and Sarah. We were going slower this time so I didn't even bother with a seat belt.**

"**What would make a little girl do something like that?" I asked as Sam and Sarah got into the car.**

"**Some people are just born tortured. So, when they die, their spirits are just as dark," Sam said.**

"**Maybe," Dean said. "I don't really care. It's over. We move on."**

**------------- -**

**We pulled up to Sarah's place and the three of us walked her in. She looked at us each in turn and saved Sam for last.**

"**So, I guess this means you're leaving," She said sadly.**

**Sam took a deep breath and looked at the floor, but didn't say anything. I could tell this was pretty much a personal moment, so I grabbed Dean's arm and said, "Dean and I are gonna go back to the car. Bye."**

**Sarah smiled gratefully and I nodded to let her know I got it. Dean and I walked away quickly.**

**When we got to the car Dean was pretty much talking to himself. "You know, I'm the one who burned the doll, destroyed, the spirit, but don't think me or anything."**

**I smiled. "Dean? Don't you think you're ego has been stroked enough for one lifetime?"**

"**No," he said seriously and I shook my head.**

**I watched as Sam came out of Sarah's house and saw that Dean looked disappointed. I didn't blame him. I agreed with Dean on the whole Sarah-being-good-for-Sam thing. I just hadn't been pushy like Dean had been, but that was about to change.**

**I blocked Sam from getting back in the car.**

"**What are you doing?" he asked, surprised.**

"**You're not getting back in the car," I said simply.**

"**Why not?"**

"**We're not going anywhere until you go back in there and kiss her like she's never been kissed before."**

**To anyone else, what I was doing would have been comical. I mean, imagine a five-foot-three girl standing up to a six-foot and some odd inches guy.**

"**Alyson…" he started, but trailed off.**

"**No," I said. "She's probably waiting by the door and she's gonna be awfully disappointed if you don't go back in there."**

**Sam looked like he was trying not to grin, but he was failing. He dutifully went back to Sarah's door and knocked. She opened the door, smiling. I was right…she had been waiting.**

**I grinned as he began kissing her and then I looked at Dean who was openly smiling.**

**We both got in the car, not paying attention to Sam, now that he was doing what we both wanted him to do.**

**Dean was looking at me now, but it was kind of uncomfortable because looking was quickly becoming staring. "What?"**

"**You're awesome," he said simply.**

**Okay…I wasn't expecting that. It made me smile brightly, anyway, and I was willing myself not to blush, but I could tell it wasn't working. I just hope he didn't tease me for it because I knew he'd notice. Noticing things was what Dean was good at if he cared about you.**

"**I just did what needed to be done. I took a page from your book and became pushy."**

**Dean grew serious after a while. "You know, you're instincts are really good and from now on I know we should trust them."**

"**Which time are you talking about?" There'd been a few times I'd been right or I'd had a feeling that something was wrong, but I hadn't even trusted myself so it didn't bother me that he hadn't, either.**

"**Well, there was the whole thing where you didn't think the painting was the main thing, which, turns out, it wasn't. And then when you thought the whole Isaiah thing didn't pan out…" he trailed off. "And you were right and I didn't listen." He thought he was responsible for it.**

"**Dean, if I were you, I wouldn't have listened to me, either. I mean, I _am_ new at this." I tried explaining how I felt because I didn't want him blaming himself. It wasn't his fault. "Besides, now you know next time to pay attention, but it's not like I'm going to be right every time."**

**He quirked his lips unto a small smile and I felt a little better.**

**------------- -**

**We'd left Sam with Sarah for the night and we went back to the motel. I knew what Sam was gonna be doing for the rest of the night, but I didn't want those mental images in my mind, so I tried very hard not to think about it.**

**Nothing incredibly special happened that night. Dean and I just watched a little TV and then went to sleep.**

**When I woke up, Dean was packing his stuff into a bag. I looked at the clock; it was ten, which was okay. It wasn't too early and it wasn't too late.**

**I assumed we were going to go pick Sam up soon and that was okay, but I wasn't sure what kind of mood he'd be in.**

**I knew he'd be missing Sarah even before we left and I hadn't known him long enough to judge whether he'd be depressed or angry about it. I knew I wouldn't bring in up with him. If he wanted to talk about it he could come to me.**

**I didn't regret making him go back to kiss Sarah. Besides, making him do it was a bit of a stretch. If he hadn't have wanted to kiss her in the first place, I'd never had been able to get away with telling him what to do. I had just given him a nudge in the right direction.**

* * *

**So...another chapter done...yay! I'm getting more reviews so I'm happy. It's good to know what people are thinking about my writing. So, pretty much all I have to say is thanks to those who review and please continue doing so. Also, I'm kinda wondering if Dean seems out of character, because I don't really think he is, because I mean he's not spilling any deep dark secrets or anything like that. He's just commenting on stuff that she's said and letting her know that she's not the only one who feels the way she does. So, yeah, read and review.**


	5. Dead Man's Blood Part One

**angbethea-yeah, I did read your review. I read all the reviews I get. How am I supposed to improve if I don't. Anyway, your review made me laugh a lot, which was good. I liked that you went into detail. You were right about Alyson's looks. She has a sort of natural beauty, I mean, the only make up she'll use is lipgloss...if that. She has wavy, dirty-blond hair, brown eyes, nice smile, roundish-oval face. She's really short compared to Sam and Dean. She's five-three and she's not skinny, but she's slim. She's not into the whole partying scene. She's an honest to goodness good girl. I don't know if that helped put an image into your head or not, but there it is. Please, review again, because it made me happy.**

**Chapter Eight**

"**So, where are we going again?" I asked as we left one of the many motels we'd been staying at.**

"**Kansas," Sam said when we got to the car.**

**They'd said that before, but what I didn't understand was why.**

"**We're going to see an old friend," said Dean. The three of us got in the car and Dean started it. "We're due for some time off, anyway."**

"**But why does it have to be Kansas?" I asked.**

"**Well," Sam began. "I've been thinkin' we should try to find some answers about you and the connection between our mothers."**

"**They were probably just really good friends," I said. That made sense in my head, anyway.**

"**Judging by those pictures your mom had, that's true," Dean said, pulling out of the motel parking lot. "But I wanna know if there's a connection between what happened to our family and what happened to your mom. Aside from the obvious."**

**He meant aside from the thing that had killed them.**

"**Not to mention we might find out something about you. Something we don't already know," Sam said.**

"**Like why I'm a freak?" I mumbled under my breath.**

"**You are not a freak," Sam said defensively. "You're just different. That doesn't make you a freak."**

**I realized that Sam knew what it was like to have a special ability…to be different from everybody else.**

"**Yeah, you're right," I said. "Being different can sometimes be a good thing. I mean, if you hadn't had that dream about me, I'd be dead by now."**

"**Anyway." Dean cleared his throat. "We're going to see someone who might be able to help."**

"**This friend of yours?"**

"**Yeah," he said. "I remember you tellin' me you were scared because you didn't know what you were capable of and, maybe, this woman can help."**

"**Is she a hunter?" I asked.**

"**No," Sam said. "She's just a very powerful psychic."**

"**Oh…Are you sure that we should be doing this? I mean, my mom's letter said that I had to be careful who I told about this."**

"**You can trust her," Dean said. "After you meet her you'll see that."**

"**And she lives in Kansas?"**

"**_Lawrence_, Kansas," Sam specified.**

**Oh. Wow. That was where my mom had come from…where their mom had died. I didn't say anything else. I knew they were only doing this because they thought it would help me. They wouldn't have been going there if it wasn't for me.**

**------------- -**

**We arrived at this woman's-I'd found out her name was Missouri Mosely-house early the next day. Dean had driven through the night so we'd get there first thing. Dean had said that we'd practice shooting while we were there. I could tell he wasn't exactly happy about being back in Kansas and he needed something to take his mind off of where he was, so I agreed. He'd have done the same for me.**

**Sam and Dean got out of the car, but I sat still. I was still kind of nervous about letting anyone else know about me. I took a deep breath and told myself that we'd come all this way and if I didn't get out of the car it would have been for nothing.**

**We hadn't even made it to the door before a middle-aged black woman came out of the house. "I was wondering if you three were gonna wait out there all day," she said. I was glad they had told me she was psychic because, if they hadn't, I would have been freaked that she'd known we were out here. I knew neither of the guys had called to tell her we were coming, which was actually inconsiderate when I stopped to think about it.**

"**Hey, Missouri," Sam said. "How've you been?"**

"**I've been fine." She looked at Dean. "I see you're in a better mood than you were in last time."**

**Dean shrugged. "Yeah, well, better circumstances this time."**

**Missouri turned my way. "Alyson." She had a full-on sympathy face. "I'm sorry about your mom." She paused. "I may not be able to give you all the answers…but I'll try to help in anyway I can."**

**I nodded, but didn't say anything. I wasn't sure exactly what to say.**

"**I won't bite," she said kindly. "There's no need to be nervous." She looked at Dean again. "You should have asked her permission before bringing her here. It is her secret to tell, after all."**

**At the mention of my secret, I tensed. I didn't like that she knew these things without me telling her. I mean, yes, Sam had had a vision about me, but if he hadn't seen me heal, he wouldn't have known I could. It was like she could pull these facts out of thin air.**

**Missouri turned back around and when she reached the front door, she paused. "Well, are you guys gonna come in?"**

**Dean and Sam looked my way. Their eyes were telling me that it was my decision. Well, Missouri didn't seem mean or dangerous…even if I didn't like the fact that she knew about me. I nodded once to let them know I was okay with it and we followed Missouri into the house.**

**She lead us to what I assumed was the living room and she sat down on a chair while we sat on the couch across from her.**

"**Did you want to do this now or later?" Missouri asked.**

"**Do what?"**

**She smiled. "Try to learn about yourself, of course."**

**I swallowed hard. I didn't know if I wanted to. I looked at both Sam and Dean, who were looking at me like it was my decision. Still.**

"**We can do it now," I said. "I mean, if these two are gonna be risking their lives to protect me, they deserve to know why, right?" I looked at Missouri, curiously. "How do we do this?"**

"**Well, I can tell you a little, right now, without you having to do anything," she said. I nodded for her to continue. "I can tell you're nervous about yourself. You don't know who you are, what you're here for."**

"**I don't know what I'm gonna be used for," I whispered. It was true. I didn't know where my abilities came from…what they could do when they manifested.**

"**Honey, your abilities are inherently good…but what you choose to do with them is up to you," she said.**

"**Why me?" I saw her look at Sam and Dean. "I don't mind them knowing."**

"**Well, I can't tell you why it's you, but I can tell you why it's happening now."**

"**We'll take what we can get," Dean said and Sam nodded his agreement.**

"**Well, things are getting heavy on the supernatural front." She paused. "Things are getting hectic out there. People are getting possessed left and right." Sam and Dean looked surprised, like they hadn't known that. "If ever we were going to need a source of goodness, it would be now."**

**Source of goodness? Me? I didn't know how that could be possible. I mean, I was just a girl. "What does that mean?" I asked. "I mean, what am I supposed to do?"**

"**The power you have inside you has only just been discovered. You'll learn more as you get older."**

"**You mean I'll be able to do more?"**

"**Yes. I can't tell you what exactly, but it'll be amazing."**

**My mind flashed back to my mom's letter. She'd said as much when she'd written it. "How do you know that?" I asked.**

"**Well, I can sense it," she said gently. "You're destined to do great things," she added.**

**My breath caught in my throat. Again, _why me? _popped into my mind. What was so special about me?**

"**So…I would have ended up living this life no matter what?" Missouri nodded her confirmation. "It was meant to happen? Fate?"**

**I didn't like that. I mean, I knew there were some things people didn't have control over, but this was my _life_ we were talking about.**

"**You three are connected. You would've probably met even without that demon attacking your mother's. Your mom's were friends, weren't they?"**

**The three of us nodded. That was true. We could tell that much from the pictures we'd found. We were meant to know each other. I could deal with that. I mean, I'd only known them for three weeks and I already cared deeply for them.**

"**That's all I can sense on my own, honey," Missouri said. I nodded, but didn't know what she wanted me to do. _I_ wasn't psychic. "Do you know what free association means?" she asked.**

"**Yeah," I said. I'd taken Psychology in the eleventh grade. Free association was when a therapist gave the patient the freedom to talk about whatever came to mind.**

"**Well, just think about any random thing that's happened since you met these two here." She nodded toward Sam and Dean.**

"**What?"**

"**Um, she can read thoughts," Sam said. "We should've told you."**

**I took a deep breath. Should've told me? Yes, they should've, but I was warming up to Missouri, so I wasn't gonna get mad.**

**I turned to look at Missouri. "_Any _thought?"**

"**Yeah."**

**I chose the memory of when I'd first found out I could heal. It seemed like a good place to start. "Okay," I said. "I guess I'm ready."**

**I felt sort of nervous. "Um…I just sit here? I don't have to do anything else?"**

**Missouri shook her head. "You might wanna relax, though. This won't hurt."**

**I took a few steadying breaths to calm myself down. She'd been reading my mind the whole time, anyway, but I hadn't known it then.**

**The thoughts of my healing ability came to mind again. My doubts about myself filled my head, too. She could probably sense those without reading my mind. I mean, she'd known my fears and I hadn't been thinking about them…she'd sensed them.**

**I felt a twinge in my mind, like something was trying to open a door to my memories. It didn't hurt; it wasn't even uncomfortable. It was just weird.**

"**Am I supposed to feel this?" I asked hesitantly.**

"**No," she said.**

"**Can you?" Dean asked.**

**I nodded. My mind went blank. I hadn't meant for it to happen, but I guess I blocked her from getting into my mind. I didn't know why or how it had happened, it just had.**

"**She's got a wall up. I can't get through," Missouri said.**

"**Has this ever happened before?" Sam asked.**

"**No," she answered.**

"**Is there something wrong with me?" I asked.**

"**I don't think so," Missouri said. "I just think it's an ability that hadn't needed to surface until now."**

"**But you could read her mind until just now, right?" Dean asked.**

"**Yes."**

"**What changed?"**

"**I think it's because I wasn't focused on you before now. Me trying to read _your_ mind, specifically, triggered something in your system."**

"**My body's natural reaction?"**

"**Yeah, and I wouldn't be able to get through without hurting myself, I don't think. Just like when that demon attacked you…it triggered your ability to heal yourself. If that demon hadn't come after you, you wouldn't be able to do the things you can do, the things you will be able to do."**

**That was ironic, if you asked me.**

**I took what she'd said in easily. It made sense to me. I mean, it was just like that thing when someone goes through something so traumatic that they're able to have visions afterwards. Except, instead of visions, I got some kind of healing thing.**

**------------- -**

"**You never told us you thought your powers were evil," Sam said.**

**We'd just left Missouri's, but we'd go back later. She'd offered to let us stay for a while. We'd accepted…or _I'd_ accepted. They had left it up to me. Probably their way of apologizing for not telling me about the mind reading thing.**

"**Well, I wasn't sure how to bring it up," I said. "I mean, that isn't an every day conversation. And I didn't know how you'd react."**

**That was the main reason. Even though Dean had pretty much quelled most of my fears, there was still a small part of me that was expecting them to freak out because of me.**

"**Hey, we read the letter," Dean said. "We know that you're gonna be unpredictable, ability-wise, but that doesn't mean you have to be scared all the time. We're not gonna let anything happen to you."**

"**Yeah, I know, and I appreciate that," I said sincerely. "The thing that bugs me, though, is that I have no control over it. These things keep happening-randomly, might I add-and I can't stop it. Not to mention the fact that, if Missouri was right, and I _am_ this source of goodness, then every demon in the world is gonna come after me and the people I care about when they find out." I paused, mid-rant. "When I say _people_, read you two."**

**I assumed my friends in California would be safe since they didn't know where I was. Aside from Layla, anyway, and she didn't know the specifics. She just knew who I was with…which the demon probably did, too.**

**My rant was pretty much over and I realized I had no idea where we were going, so I asked.**

"**We're going to practice shooting. I mean, Kansas is full of fields, so finding a place to practice shouldn't be hard to do," Dean said.**

**Oh, dear. I knew I had said I'd wanted to learn, and I did, but now that I was actually getting down to it, I was nervous. I mean, what if I completely sucked at it. Yes, I knew how to shoot a gun now, but aiming was a whole different ball game. Actually, it was probably played in a totally different _ball_ _park_.**

**------------- -**

**One hour and fifteen bullets later, I'd only hit two targets, which were beer bottles on a fence, and I was getting fed up. This was stupid. I just wasn't getting it. I was usually the type of person who, if I didn't get it the first few times, I probably never would, which, in this situation, wasn't good.**

"**Guys, this is a waste of ammo," I said. "And my arm hurts." I hated that I sounded like I was whining, but that was the kind of mood I was in. And my arm really was hurting; it was sore. I was using muscles I had never used before.**

**I was so frustrated I felt like throwing the gun to the ground and saying screw it. I wanted to walk away from it, but I didn't want to disappoint the two guys who were standing behind me. Their opinion of me meant more to me than they would ever know. Besides, throwing a gun on the ground probably wasn't the best idea; it could go off. That wouldn't be good.**

"**Come on," Sam said. "You only have three bullets left. Then we can stop for the day."**

**I took a deep breath and even that hurt my arm. I wondered, not for the first time, why my healing thing wasn't working. It would've been useful right about now.**

**My guess was that my arm being sore wasn't life-threatening and it was natural. Your muscles were supposed to be sore if you hadn't used them before. Besides, it wasn't like the pain was unbearable…it was just irritating.**

"**Okay." I took another deep breath, trying to calm myself down, because I really was frustrated. The only think I'd learned was that I sucked at aiming a gun…and how to put bullets in a gun.**

**They'd both given me pointers. _Don't get angry, it'll make you mess up_, Sam had said. Too late for that one. I'd gotten mad _because_ I had messed up. Dean had told me that wherever the barrel of the gun was pointing was where the bullet would go, which made sense to me in theory, but in practice…not so much.**

**I lined up the gun with one of the bottles. I took my sweet old time; it wasn't like we were under attack at that moment.**

**I pulled the trigger and held my breath. I didn't hit the target I'd been aiming at. I hit the one to the right of it. But if I'd been aiming at someone or something, then I still would have hit it. So…whatever.**

**------------- -**

**Before we'd gone back to Missouri's we'd stopped to get me a heating pad for my shoulder. It would ease the pain in my muscles.**

**When we arrived at Missouri's house, we got out of the car and went up the front steps to the door. I could smell the scent of food through the door. Apparently, Missouri had prepared dinner while we'd been gone. Which was fine with me…I was hungry, anyway.**

**We walked in and, of course, she was waiting for us. There would be no sneaking up on this woman. Not that I was planning to; it was just an observation.**

"**I hope you three like spaghetti," she said, leading us into the kitchen where we sat down. "Dinner will be done in about ten minutes."**

**We all sat in comfortable silence, although, it probably wasn't silent for Missouri since she could hear thoughts. I didn't know how she put up with everyone else's thoughts in her mind. It would drive me totally insane.**

**I realized she had probably heard that and I felt my face heating up. Then I realized she would know why I was blushing and that just made me blush harder.**

**I looked at Missouri, who was smiling at me. She hadn't been offended by my thoughts. If she'd even heard them. I didn't know if the wall I'd unintentionally put up was still there.**

**If she _could_ hear my thoughts, she probably thought I was insane, as mixed up as my thoughts were. I mean, they were even mixed up to me and they were mine.**

**------------- -**

**When I woke up the next morning, I felt like I could stretch a mile and I would have if I hadn't have had to walk back. I did stretch my arms out , though. They were still a little sore, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.**

**I went to find the guys, who I assumed were in the kitchen because of the smell of food. And I was right. There was bacon sizzling on the stove, coffee brewing, and there was a bowl of scrambled eggs on the middle of the table. I sat down across from Dean, who looked at me and smirked.**

"**What?" I asked.**

"**Did you just feel like not getting dressed today or somethin'?"**

**I looked down at myself. I was still in my pajamas. I didn't care, so I shrugged. I was wearing pajama pants and a white tank top. It wasn't like I was revealing anything.**

"**I didn't think to change," I said.**

"**How's the arm?" Sam asked. I looked at him and saw that he was using his laptop for something.**

"**I'm good. I feel better." I got up from the chair that I had just sat down in and went to see what Sam was doing. "What are you looking for?"**

"**A job," he said.**

"**Oh. Did you find something?" I didn't say anything about Dean saying we needed some time off because I knew that if something supernaturally bad was going on, Sam and Dean needed to stop it.**

"**Well, I've been scanning Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota. Here, a woman in Iowa fell ten thousand feet from an airplane and survived.**

"**That sounds more like _That's Incredible_ than, uh, _Twilight Zone_."**

"**Yeah," Sam said, looking up at Dean.**

**Missouri walked into the room and I looked in her direction.**

"**Alyson, you wanna help me set the table?"**

"**Sure," I answered. She showed me where the plates were and I got four of them out while Missouri got the forks out of a drawer beside the oven.**

"**Hey, you know, we could, uh-we could just keep headin' east," Dean said. "New York, upstate."**

"**Yeah," I agreed. "We could stop by and see Sarah again." I placed the four plates on the table.**

**Dean smiled. "She's a cool chick, man-smokin'." He whistled. "You two seemed pretty friendly. What do you say?"**

"**I don't know, maybe, someday. But in the meantime, we've got a lot of work to do, Dean, and you know that," Sam said.**

**Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you're right," he said reluctantly. "What else you got?"**

**I watched as Missouri grabbed a pot holder and opened the oven to take out some biscuits.**

"**Uh, Manning, Colorado-a local man by the name of Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home."**

"**Elkins?" I could practically see the light bulb go off over Dean's head. "I know that name."**

**Sam shrugged. "Doesn't ring a bell. It sounds like the police don't know what to think. At first, they said it was some sort of bear attack, and now, they've found signs of robbery."**

"**Couldn't someone have robbed the place after he was killed?" I asked. "I mean, I'm sure there are other people in the world besides us who would enter a crime scene."**

"**That's possible," Sam said. "But we won't know for sure unless we check it out."**

"**Hey," Dean said, getting up from the table, "can one of you make my coffee for me? I have to check somethin' real quick."**

**He didn't wait for an answer, he just walked out. How considerate.**

**I was already standing up, so I got it. He liked it black, I knew that much. I got a mug and poured coffee in it. "You want some?" I asked Sam and Missouri.**

"**Um, yeah," Sam said. "Milk and two sugars."**

"**Okay." I looked at Missouri, who shook her head. I didn't want any, either.**

**Dean walked back in and said, "here, check it out." He was holding his dad's journal. I looked at it as I brought the two coffees to the table. There was a phone number and the name D. Elkins was beside it.**

"**You think it's the same Elkins?" I asked as Dean handed the journal to Sam.**

"**It's a Colorado area code," Dean answered.**

"**When do we leave?" Sam asked.**

"**We can hang around here for another couple of hours and then we need to hit the road."**

**------------- -**

**We left Missouri's place at around two o'clock that afternoon and it took about five hours to get to Manning Colorado. When we got there, we stopped at a couple places to see if anybody knew anything about this Elkins guy.**

**We reached this local bar and we hit _pay dirt_, as Dean would've said. We talked to this bartender there. Her name was Beth. She was pretty; blond, had blue eyes, was probably in her mid-thirties.**

**Sam had said we'd been friends with Daniel Elkins and we were wondering if she could help us find out what happened to him.**

"**Yeah. Poor Mr. Elkins lived all alone up in the canyon. Same seat every day. He would go through his papers, makin' his little notes. He was a nice old man. He was just a nut."**

"**Was he actin' strange or anything like that before he died?" Sam asked.**

"**Not that I could tell," Beth said. "I mean, he left the bar real quick the night he died, didn't even touch his drink. But he was always runnin' off to one place or another."**

**We thanked her and left the bar. "So, what do we do now?" I asked.**

"**We go to his place, check it out," Dean said.**

**So we went. Daniel Elkins' house had ended up being a cabin. It was secluded, which was good for us since we were going to break in. There weren't any lights on, which was understandable because nobody lived there anymore, so it looked kinda creepy. Although, it looked like it would be sorta nice in the daytime.**

**There was no yellow crime scene tape, so I figured the police were done with the house.**

"**Hey," Sam said, turning to look at me from the front seat. "Do you know the mechanics of a door?"**

**Okay. That was the most out-of-it question I'd ever heard. I mean, that came from way out in left field. Mechanics in that question meant did I know how to work a door. I resisted the urge to giggle, because, really, that was a stupid question. I mean, what did he think, I had rammed my way through doors my entire life?**

"**Um," I began. "You turn the knob and you open it. And because the door is on hinges, that usually works." I was speaking to Sam as though he were a small child and Dean was pretty much trying to keep from laughing his head off.**

**Sam must have realized how stupid the question he'd asked had sounded because he rephrased. "I meant do you know much about how to pick a lock?"**

"**Oh." Okay, the question had still been phrased strangely for what he was trying to ask. "I've never tried to pick a lock, so I don't know."**

"**Well, you can try tonight. It's the perfect time. It's night, no one is around but us, and you can take your time."**

**The three of us got out of the car and Sam handed me the lock pick from his pocket.**

**We walked up to the front door and, yes, I checked to make sure that the door was, in fact, locked. I mean, I'd have felt pretty stupid if I had been trying to pick a lock that was unlocked to begin with.**

**I squatted down in front of the door but then looked up at Sam. "Um, you didn't explain how to do this."**

"**Well, you just stick it in there and start movin' it around until it comes unlocked," Sam explained.**

**Wow, that was helpful. I knew that much already. But I wasn't gonna complain…unless I couldn't do it.**

**I stuck the pick in the doorknob and moved it around until I heard a click. Then I turned it counterclockwise to unlock it. It had taken about twenty seconds. I was so shocked, I'd almost dropped the pick.**

**Sam reached over and opened the door. I felt like jumping up and down screaming _I did it, I did it! _But I didn't. That would have been embarrassing.**

**I handed the pick back to Sam as we stepped inside the cabin. Dean pulled out a flashlight and turned it on.**

"**Looks like the maid didn't come today," he said, looking around.**

**It was true. There were papers and books thrown around on the floor, which, duh, this guy had been mauled. Things probably fell over in the process.**

**I looked down at the floor and saw white stuff on the carpet.**

"**Um, I think there's salt here," I said. Sam crouched down, while Dean moved further into the house, taking the light with him. Sam brought out a flashlight of his own.**

"**You mean, like protection-against-demons salt, or, uh, _oops I spilled the popcorn_ salt?"**

"**It's clearly a ring," Sam said. "You think this guy, Elkins, was a player?"**

"**Definitely," I heard Dean say.**

**Sam stood up and we followed the sound of Dean's voice. He was only in the next room. He was going through what looked like a journal. It had weird symbols and things that I didn't understand in it.**

"**That looks a hell of a lot like Dad's," Sam said, shocked.**

"**Yeah," Dean replied, "Except this dates back to the sixties."**

**Dean closed the journal and pocketed it. I realized we were stealing from a dead man, but it wasn't like we were taking gold or anything. Besides, he wouldn't need it anymore.**

**We slowly made our way upstairs. There was an open doorway there, only the door was no longer on it's hinges…it had been ripped off. But, naturally, that was the first room we went to.**

**The room looked like a tornado had blown through it. Absolutely everything was on the floor. A lamp that was busted, a bookshelf, books, drawers…the only thing left standing was a desk. It had the usual stuff a desk would have on it.**

**Dean shined the light upwards. There had been two windows there, but they were broken in. Both of them.**

"**Whatever attacked him, it looks like there was more than one," I said.**

"**Looks like he put up a hell of a fight, too," Dean said.**

"**Yeah," Sam agreed.**

**There was a box on the floor that looked like it was made for a gun, but there was nothing in it. I saw Dean move and squat down. He was examining something on the floor. "You got something?"**

"**I don't know. Just some scratches on the floor."**

"**Death throes, maybe?" Sam suggested.**

"**Yeah, maybe." Dean didn't sound too sure. "Try to find me a pencil and a piece of paper." That wasn't too hard…those things were on the desk. Sam handed them both to Dean, who put the paper on the floor over the scratches and started to move the pencil back and forth over the paper. "It's a message," he said, after he was done.**

**Dean handed the paper to Sam. "Three letters, six digits-the location and combination of a post office box. It's a mail drop."**

**The two guys looked at each other. "That's just the way Dad does it," Dean said, standing up. "All right, we need to cover our tracks here and then we need to go to the post office. Whatever's there, this guy obviously wanted somebody to find it."**

**------------- -**

**We'd gone to the post office and the only thing we'd found was a letter that was addressed to J.W.**

**We were now back in the car and the two guys were staring at the name on the envelope. I got it…they thought it was for their dad.**

"**J.W.-you think? John Winchester?"**

"**I don't know," Dean replied. "Should we open it?"**

**Suddenly, someone knocked loudly on the window. I almost screamed, but I didn't. There was a man, probably in his late forties or early fifties, standing outside the car. He had black hair with a little bit of gray throughout.**

"**Dad?" Dean said. Dean looked confused, as did Sam, when John got into the backseat. With me. Hm…gulp.**

"**Dad, what are you doing here? Are you all right?" Sam asked, worriedly.**

"**Yeah, I'm okay." John looked at me curiously. "Who is this?"**

"**Um." Dean brought his hand up and scratched the back of his head like he didn't know what to say.**

"**I'm Alyson Daniels," I said. I figured I could spare Dean the thinking time. "I've been with them for a little while."**

**John didn't seem curious anymore. He seemed surprised and confused. "Why?'**

"**Um," Dean said again. It was like he didn't know exactly what to tell him…like he didn't know what would set his dad off or something. "We're teaching her to hunt. She'll be able to help us."**

**John seemed even more surprised at that, so Sam tried to explain. "The demon is after her. We couldn't just leave her. She could have been killed."**

**That got John's attention. "_The_ demon? Why?"**

"**We don't exactly know," Dean said. I was surprised he hadn't said anything about the things I could do or the letter my mom had written, but I was thankful for it.**

"**Okay," John said. "We can discuss this later, I guess." He paused. "Look, I read the news about Daniel. I got here as fast as I could. I saw you three up at his place."**

"**Why didn't you come in, Dad?" Sam asked.**

"**You know why. Because I had to make sure you weren't followed, by anyone, or anything. Nice job of covering your tracks, by the way," he said seriously.**

"**Yeah, well, we learned from the best," Dean said.**

"**Wait, so, you came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?" Sam sounded surprised.**

"**Yeah," John said sadly. "He was…he was a good man. He taught me a hell of a lot about hunting.**

"**You never mentioned him to us."**

"**We had, uh…we had kind of a falling out. I hadn't seen him in years." John pointed to the letter Dean was holding. "I should look at that." Dean handed it to him and John took the letter out of the envelope. "_If you're reading this, I'm already dead_. That son of a bitch."**

"**What is it?" Dean asked.**

"**He had it the whole time."**

"**Dad, what?"**

"**When you searched the place, did you see a gun? An antique-a Colt revolver, did you see it?"**

"**There was an old case," I said. "But it was empty."**

"**They have it."**

"**You mean, whatever killed Elkins?" Dean asked.**

"**We've gotta pick up the trail," John said, getting out of the car.**

"**Wait," Sam said. "You want us to come with you?"**

**John leaned down so he could talk through the window. "If Elkins was tellin' the truth, we've got to find this gun."**

"**The gun? Why?"**

"**Because it's important, that's why."**

"**Dad, we don't even know what these things _are_ yet," Sam said.**

"**They're what Daniel Elkins killed best," John said. "Vampires."**

"**Vampires? I thought there was no such thing."**

"**You never even mentioned them, Dad."**

"**I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and others had wiped 'em out. I was wrong." John took a deep breath. "Most vampire lore is crap. Crosses won't repel them, sunlight won't kill them, and neither will a stake to the heart. But the bloodlust…that part's true. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late."**

"**So, what do we do?" Sam asked.**

"**You guys find a motel. I'll follow behind you."**

**I watched as John walked away. I hadn't noticed before, but there was an old pickup truck across the street from where we were.**

**Apparently, it belonged to John because he got into it and started it up. Dean did the same to the car and we were off.**

* * *

**Okay, so another chapter. First off, I didn't really like my Missouri voice, but I did my best there. And I also wasn't too happy with the way John and her met, but the real interaction between those two will come in the next chapter. Um, so, yeah, all I have to say is, please review after you read.**


	6. Dead Man's Blood Part Two

**Flight815Down-Thanks for the wonderful review. I'm glad you like the story. And I'm glad that you like that she's just another human being even though she's got all these abilities. I was really trying to project that in the way I wrote her character with all her doubts and fears.**

**Angbethea-Thanks for another good review. To answer your question about my ideas...once Alyson comes into her own, I'll probably add some things that are my own, but I'm still gonna be sticking pretty close to the series. Or as close as I can, while adding my own character to it, anyway. I'm kinda nervous about adding too much stuff that wasn't in it originally, though.**

**Chapter Nine**

**We'd found a motel just like John had asked and we were all in the room now. I felt sort of awkward, like maybe I was intruding. John had probably wanted to say something, but hadn't because I was there.**

"**Okay," John said as an opener. "Someone explain this to me." He looked at me, so there was no confusing what he was talking about.**

**I thought Sam and Dean had explained it sufficiently enough in the car, but, apparently, John didn't.**

"**We already told you," Sam said tensely. "The demon is after her and we don't exactly know why. We're going to teach her to hunt. She'll be able to help us and take care of herself."**

"**And she's willing to learn?"**

**Okay, they were talking about me like I wasn't there. That was annoying.**

"**She's the one who suggested it," Dean put in.**

"**Why?" John asked. He hadn't directed the question at me, but I was fed up with not being included.**

"**Because that thing killed my mom," I almost snapped. I went to my bag, which I'd brought in when we'd gotten there. I dug through it; my pictures were all the way at the bottom. I pulled the picture of my mom with Mary Winchester out of the bag. I went over to John and handed it to him. "It killed my mom and it was after me. So, yes, I'm willing to learn," I said firmly.**

**John was looking at the picture like he didn't know what to think. He probably didn't. "This is yours?" he asked, looking at me.**

**I nodded. "Well, it was my mom's, but…yeah."**

"**And you know who she's with?"**

"**I didn't until I met those two," I nodded toward Sam and Dean. I looked back at John. "Did you know my mom?" I was calmer now, which was good, because I wasn't really angry at him, I was just frustrated.**

**John nodded, handing me back my picture. "I knew her. Through Mary. Those two were pretty much inseparable when they were growin' up. They were more like sisters than friends."**

**Like Layla and me had been before I left.**

**I looked at Sam and Dean, who were paying close attention to what John was saying.**

"**They sorta lost touch after your mom moved. I don't remember where to."**

"**San Francisco," I said.**

"**Right. And how long have you been with them?"**

"**Three weeks…give or take a few days." I smiled slightly. "They offered to let me come with them and, um, since they were the only ones who could protect me…I agreed."**

**He didn't say anything else on the subject; nobody did. John pretty much just listened to a police scanner and neither of the guys were that talkative. I wasn't sure, but I thought it had to do with John's presence. I mean, it was bad to say, but it was true. Dean wasn't his usual sarcastic, witty, fun-loving self…he was quiet. Sam wasn't exactly different-different, but he _was_ tense.**

**Things stayed pretty much the same until we went to bed. John stayed up and he seemed a little amused with the sleeping arrangements when Sam and Dean had to sleep in the same bed. Hm…maybe I could make an exception while John was with us.**

"**Um…one of you can sleep in my bed, I guess. I mean, what if John wants to sleep tonight?" I'd rather wake up to Sam or Dean than John. That would just be awkward.**

**------------- -**

**The next morning _I_ woke up to John telling Sam and Dean to wake up. I heard Dean, who was beside me on the bed, groan, like he didn't want to get up.**

"**Uh, what happened?" I heard Sam ask.**

"**A couple called 911," John said. "They found a body in the street. Cops got there, everyone was missing. It's the vampires." I assumed he'd been listening to the police scanner all night.**

"**How do you know?"**

"**Just follow me, okay?" John sounded impatient.**

**I didn't understand why he was going to all this trouble just to get a gun. I mean, we had plenty of them.**

**I opened my eyes and got up. Thankfully, I had fallen asleep in my clothes, so al I had to do was straighten them out and I was set.**

"**You're not coming," John directed at me.**

"**Uh, yes, she is," Dean said. Sam looked surprised that Dean had said that. I didn't mind that he'd said it. If he hadn't, I would've.**

"**She'll only slow us down, Dean."**

"**We've managed just fine with her with us," Sam put in. "And if we don't let her come with us, how the hell else is she supposed to learn?"**

"**She's not staying here by herself," Dean said. I'd known that. I'd pretty much embraced it by that point. "That demon is after her and if we leave her alone, it would make it way too easy to get to her. So, she comes."**

**Okay, yes, Dean was standing up for me in a way, but he was still talking like I wasn't there. I was frustrated. That was getting old, fast.**

"**Hello, people. I'm standing right here."**

**John looked at me and then at Dean. "Fine. She can come. But she's your responsibility." He walked out the room. Clearly, he needed some sleep, because he was grumpy. If I hit him and knocked him unconscious, that would be a form of sleep. But I didn't think Dean would take too kindly to that, so I banished those thoughts.**

**There was an awkward sort of silence filling the room and I didn't like it.**

"**So," I said. "Vampires, huh?"**

**Dean seemed relieved. "Yeah. Gets funnier every time I hear it."**

**Sam smiled a little. He seemed relieved, too. I didn't know why.**

**Maybe it was because I'd relieved the awkward tension. Maybe it was because I hadn't gotten upset over John's attitude. Or, maybe it was something else altogether, but the point was that they were relieved and I was glad.**

**------------- -**

**We'd followed John like he'd asked us to and we ended up on some road. There were a bunch of cops there and John had gone over to talk to them, while the three of us waited outside the Impala.**

"**I don't see why we couldn't have gone over with him," Sam said.**

"**Oh, don't tell me it's already starting." Dean looked at him.**

"**What's starting?"**

**I didn't get to find out because John walked up to us. "It was them, all right," he said. "Looks like they're headin' west. We're gonna have to double back to get around that detour."**

**The cops had the road blocked.**

"**How can you be so sure?" Sam asked.**

"**Sam-" Dean started.**

"**I just wanna know we're goin' in the right direction."**

"**We are," John said confidently.**

"**How do you know?"**

**John took something out of his pocket and held it up for us to see. "I found this." It looked like a tooth, but it was way to sharp to belong to a human.**

"**What is that, a vampire fang?" I asked.**

"**No fangs, just teeth. The second set descends when they attack." John looked at Sam. "Any more questions?" Sam didn't say anything. "All right, let's get out of here, we're losin' daylight."**

"**Um…but it's still-" I was interrupted by Dean bringing his hand up and over my mouth. He shook his head. He was trying to spare me the wrath that was John Winchester. I was only going to say it's still morning. I mean, we had a whole lot of daylight left.**

"**Hey, Dean, why don't you touch up your car before you get rust?" John said as he walked towards his truck. "I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were gonna ruin it." I hoped he wasn't in a bad mood because of me. I mean, Dean had told him he wasn't going to leave me alone and John hadn't taken too kindly to that. So I hoped he wasn't mad because I was there and he was just taking it out on Dean.**

**I watched at he got into the truck. Sam was laughing at what John had said. I wasn't and neither was Dean.**

**I mean, Dean cared about his car almost as much as he cared about Sam. But you can't exactly touch up your car when you're fighting evil almost everyday of the week.**

**Sam, Dean, and I got into the car, Sam driving this time. Dean was reading some research about vampires.**

"**Vampires nest in groups of eight to ten. Smaller packs are sent out to hunt for food. Victims are taken to the nest, where the pack keeps them alive, bleeding them for days or weeks."**

"**Ew," I said, from the backseat. "I wonder if that's what happened to that 911 couple. 'Cause, you know that's years of therapy waitin' to happen." I saw rather than heard Dean laugh.**

"**That's probably what Dad's thinking. Of course, it would be nice if he just _told_ us what he thinks."**

**Dean looked at Sam. "So, it _is_ starting."**

"**What?" I could tell Sam knew what Dean was talking about.**

"**Sam, we've been lookin' for Dad all year. Now we're not with him for more than a couple of hours, and there's static already?"**

"**No. Look, I'm happy he's okay, all right? And I'm happy that we're all workin' together again."**

"**Well, good," Dean said, turning back to his research.**

**Oh, dear. Another one of those conversations where I just wanted to jump out of the car. But it was moving, so I couldn't.**

"**It's just the way he treats us like we're children."**

"**Oh, God," Dean said. Apparently, he wanted out of this conversation, too.**

"**He barks orders at us, Dean, he expects us to follow him without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal."**

"**He does what he does for a reason."**

"**What reason?"**

"**Our job!" Dean exclaimed. "There's no time to argue, there's no margin for error, all right, it's just the way the old man runs things."**

"**Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, all right? Not after everything you and I have been through, Dean. I mean, are you tellin' me you're cool with just fallin' in line and lettin' him run the whole show?"**

**Dean hesitated. "If that's what it takes."**

**I saw Sam roll his eyes through the rearview mirror. "That's bull. I mean, we've been with Alyson more than we had with Dad this year."**

"**Please don't drag me into this," I said softly. "This seems like a very tense family thing and you guys can work it out without me."**

"**No, I wanna know," Sam said.**

"**Sam…" I started. "Does it really matter what I think?" I knew he wanted me to tell him what I thought about John treating me the way he did.**

"**Yes."**

"**Fine." I took a deep breath. "I think that I don't know how to answer because he's not my dad and I wasn't brought up the way you were. But it doesn't matter whether you do it his way or not. What matters is that we save those people. Whatever plan works is fine with me. As long as it gets the job done. Those people are what matter."**

"**You should listen to her, Sammy," Dean said. "She's usually right."**

**And that statement right there, made my morning.**

**------------- -**

**We'd driven all through the day, only stopping for gas or food, which we got at the convenience store when we got gas.**

**We used the bathroom when we got gas, too. Public bathrooms weren't one of my favorite things, but if you had to go, you had to go.**

**It was now nighttime and we were still in the car, following John, who Dean was on the phone with.**

**I still didn't get what was so special about this gun we were going after, and John wasn't sharing. Things had been tense between the four of us, so I wasn't about to bring it up to one of them. I wasn't stupid and I didn't want my head to get bitten off.**

**I saw Dean hang up his cell phone. "Pull off at the next exit."**

"**Why?" Sam asked.**

"**Because Dad thinks we've got the vampires trail."**

"**How?" Sam was being stubborn just for the sake of being stubborn, it seemed like.**

"**I don't know. He didn't say."**

**The car started speeding down the road. Sam must have punched the accelerator.**

"**What are you doing?" I asked. We passed John's truck and swerved into the middle of the road, so that John had to pull over, too.**

**Sam got out of the car and I saw John coming from the truck.**

"**Oh, crap. Here we go," Dean said. He turned to look at me. "Stay in the car, okay?"**

**I nodded and watched him open the passenger-side door and step out of the car.**

"**What the hell was that?" I heard John ask. The driver's side window was down, so I could hear every word that was being said.**

"**We need to talk," Sam said.**

"**About what?"**

"**About everything. Where are we goin', Dad? What's the big deal about this gun?"**

"**Sammy, come on, we can Q and A after we kill the vampires," Dean said. I could tell he was trying to keep a fight from breaking out.**

"**Your brother's right. We don't have time for this," John said.**

"**Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous to be together. Now, out of the blue, you need our help. Now, obviously, something big is goin' down, and we wanna know what!"**

**Sam's voice had risen higher and higher with each word he'd been saying, so I could hear him perfectly. I could get where he was coming from, honestly, but this wasn't what he should have been focusing on.**

"**Get back in the car," John said.**

"**No."**

**I tried so hard not to look at the three guys, but it was difficult.**

"**I said get back in the damn car."**

"**Yeah, and I said no."**

"**All right, you made your point, tough guy," Dean said. "Look, we're all tired. We can talk about this later." I did look now…I wanted to make sure Sam was gonna listen. Dean grabbed Sam and dragged him toward the car. "Sammy, I mean it, come on."**

**Sam was right at the driver's side door. "This is why I left in the first place." It sounded like he hadn't meant for anyone to hear it, but I did. That was pretty much a low blow because, if I had heard it, then I knew Dean had, too. I knew how much of a sore subject Sam leaving for college was for Dean.**

"**What'd you say?" Apparently, John had heard it, too.**

**I saw Sam turn back around. "You heard me."**

"**Yeah. _You_ left. Your brother and me, we needed you. _You_ walked away, Sam, _you_ walked away!" John grabbed Sam by his shirt.**

"**Stop it, both of you!" Dean said, pleadingly.**

**I got out of the car even though Dean had told me to stay there. It sounded like he needed some moral support.**

"**You were the one who said _don't come back_, Dad. You're the one who closed that door, not me! You were just pissed off you couldn't control me anymore!" Sam was just full-out shouting now.**

**Dean got between them, breaking them apart. "All right, stop it. Stop it, that's enough!"**

**Neither Sam nor John stopped glaring at each other, but John did let go of Sam's shirt.**

"**Sam," I said softly, because I didn't want him to yell at me. "Those people…they could still be alive…we have to find them."**

**Sam didn't say anything to me, but he did get back in the car. John didn't look my way at all, he just turned to walk back to his truck. Maybe he was mad that Sam had listened to me or something.**

**I looked at Dean, who was shaking his head. I hit him lightly on the arm. "You okay?"**

"**Terrific," he said sarcastically.**

"**I'm sorry I didn't stay in the car. It sounded like you needed help, though."**

**Dean nodded. "It's okay. I kinda did. Besides, I knew you wouldn't listen, anyway. You did what you thought was right."**

**I heard the truck start as Dean and I got back in the car. Sam didn't say anything, but I didn't think he was mad at me…he was mad at his dad.**

**------------- -**

**We'd found out that the vampires were holed up in a barn-a clichéd barn…big and red and falling apart.**

**John hadn't wanted to attack at night-he said it would give the vampire the advantage-so we'd stopped at a motel. We were now in the room and the silence was really getting to me. Sam was still being quiet, which was actually a good thing because, knowing him, if he said anything it would just cause another argument.**

"**So," I said. "I thought you said vampires weren't afraid of the sun." John looked up at me. He looked surprised that I'd remembered that.**

"**They're not. Direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn. The only way to kill them is by beheading." Decapitation? Ew. "And, yeah, they sleep during the day, but it doesn't mean they won't wake up."**

**Well, at least John seemed like he was in a better mood. I just wished Sam would hurry up and follow suit.**

"**So I guess walking right in's not our best option," Dean said.**

"**Actually, that's the plan." He paused, looking like he was thinking. "So…you guys really wanna know about this Colt?"**

**Sam, who had been sitting on one of the beds, looked up, surprised. "Yes, sir."**

"**It's just a story. A legend, really. Well, I thought it was. Never really believed it until I read Daniel's letter." John took a deep breath. "Back in 1835, when Halley's Comet, was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Samuel Colt made a gun. A special gun. He made it for a hunter. A man like us, only on horseback. The story goes he made thirteen bullets. This hunter used the gun a half-dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Somehow, Daniel got his hands on it." John looked at Sam. "They say…they say this gun can kill anything."**

"**Kill anything, like, supernatural anything?" Dean asked and John nodded.**

"**Like the demon," Sam said in disbelief.**

"**Yeah, the demon. Ever since I picked up its trail, I've been lookin' for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun…we may have it." He paused, probably wondering what else he should say. "You three should get some rest. You're gonna need it tomorrow."**

"**What about you?" I asked. "I mean, you didn't get any sleep last night and vampires are probably preternaturally strong, right?"**

**John smiled slightly. "I'll be okay."**

**So the three of us-Sam, Dean, and I-went to bed and I allowed the same sleeping arrangements from the night before. It hadn't bothered me as much as I had thought it would. Dean had stayed on his side and I had stayed on mine.**

**It struck me as weird that I was probably the first girl in a long time that went to sleep with Dean beside her and he was still there when she woke up. But I was okay with it.**

**------------- -**

"**So, what's the plan again?" I asked.**

**It was morning now and I'd had a pretty nice sleep. It wasn't the best because I was still having nightmares about my mom, but they weren't as frequent as they had been, and they weren't waking me up.**

**John was the one who answered. "The vampires should be asleep now, so we're gonna sneak into the barn and get the Colt."**

**I didn't say anything, but that didn't sound like the best idea to me. To me, a good plan was the one where you were less likely to get killed. But this plan seemed dangerous. I mean, if what Dean had said was true, and vampires nested in packs of eight to ten, then we were outnumbered by at least four and at most six.**

**We left the motel and got into our separate vehicles. Dean and Sam in the front seat, I was in the back.**

"**This is a really bad idea," I said out loud. Now that John wasn't around I didn't mind saying what I thought. "What if the vampires aren't asleep? Or what if they wake up?"**

"**Then we kill them," Dean said simply.**

"**Um, hate to burst your bubble, but if they all attack us at the same time, we don't stand a chance."**

"**Stop being pessimistic."**

**Sam spoke up. "She's not being pessimistic. She's being realistic."**

"**Thank you," I said. At least someone agreed with me. "I mean, yeah, if there's only eight against the four of us then it would be two against one. But if there are ten…" I trailed off. I knew they would understand where I was coming from, just like I understood why we had to do this.**

**The rest of the car ride was silent; there wasn't even any music playing. We parked on the side of the road by the woods near the barn.**

**Dean got out and popped the trunk. John did the same to his truck but, instead of popping the trunk, he let down his tailgate.**

**Dean handed both Sam and I a machete; they were in cases.**

"**You actually trust me with this?" I asked skeptically. We'd never worked with bladed of any kind before.**

"**I trust you enough to know you won't hurt one of us with it," Dean said.**

**Each of us had a machete now, even John, so we made our way to the barn. I could already feel the unnaturalness of the vampires and we weren't even inside yet. There was window that was about four feet above the ground, which was no problem for the guys because they were tall, they'd just be able to lift their leg and get up, but I would need help.**

**John went in first, then Sam. I felt Dean's hands on my waist and then he started lifting me up. I grabbed onto the side of the window-seal and pulled myself in.**

**I landed on hay; it had been stacked up on the floor by the wall. I felt, rather than saw, Dean come in behind me. Sam was a little ahead of me and I assumed John had gone off in search of the Colt because I didn't see him.**

**What I _did_ see were vampires-at least seven of them-asleep on hammocks that were spread around the room.**

**Sam, Dean, and I hopped off the hay and started going farther into the barn. One good thing about being as short as I was was that I didn't have to duck much to get under the hammocks.**

**I was behind both of the boys and I saw Dean bump into the hammock, so I froze, looking at the vampire that was in it. Dean backed up and reached for his machete, but the vampire didn't wake up, so we continued walking.**

"**Guys?" I heard Sam say softly. Sam was squatting next to a woman, who was asleep or knocked unconscious. She was tied up and she had blood on her clothes and mouth.**

**I looked behind Sam and saw a cage with people in it…victims. "There's more," I said and went over to the cage. All the people were sleeping. There was a padlock on the door. That sucked.**

**Dean came up behind me and grabbed a crowbar that had been hanging on top of the cage. I hadn't seen it and even if I had I wouldn't have been able to reach it. He broke one of the latches off the cage door, but then waited to make sure none of the vampires woke up. They didn't.**

**I looked at Sam, who was untying the woman. She was beginning to wake up. She started screaming and it sent chills down my spine. She'd been turned already.**

**Sam jumped up and backed away from her. He looked like he was going to reach for his blade, but the other vampires were waking up now.**

"**Run!" I heard John say from somewhere I couldn't see. So we ran. I had no problem following _that_ order.**

**We went out the front door of the barn and kept running until we reached the car and truck. John wasn't with us.**

"**Dad?" Dean yelled.**

**A few seconds later, I could see John running towards us.**

"**Shouldn't we go now?" I asked. "Before they come looking for us."**

"**They won't follow. They'll wait 'til tonight. Once a vampire gets your scent, it's for life."**

"**Did you get the gun?" Sam asked and John shook his head.**

"**Okay, so, what the hell do we do now?" Dean asked.**

"**You got to find the nearest funeral home, that's what."**

**I watched as Dean and Sam looked at each other, both confused. "Um, why?" I asked hesitantly.**

"**Dead man's blood…it can hurt a vampire. It won't kill them, but it'll make them weak for a while."**

"**Oh," I said. "Alrighty then." That explained it.**

"**Sam, you can come with me. Dean, I want you to go get that blood. Alyson…" he trailed off. He didn't know what to do with me.**

"**I'll go with Dean." I wouldn't have minded going back to the motel, but I didn't want to be alone with Sam and John. They might start fighting again. I didn't want to be caught in the middle of that.**

**------------- -**

"**I'm sorry for the way my Dad's been acting," Dean said. We were in the car now, the radio was on low, and we were headed to a funeral home.**

"**It's not your fault." Dean struck me as the type of person who blamed himself for everything even if it was in no way his fault. "Like you said…he does what he does for a reason. I mean, his wife…your mom was killed." I saw Dean's hand grip the steering wheel tighter. His knuckles went white, but I continued. "And he wants revenge. I mean, it's probably what he wakes up thinking about. What he dreams about when he sleeps."**

"**Yeah," Dean said softly, but his grip was still tight on the wheel. "He and Sam never really saw eye-to-eye on that."**

"**I get that," I replied. "I mean…I think Sam sort of resents John a little. For bringing hunting into his life…and yours." I paused. "I mean, he hunts, but he doesn't like it. He doesn't wanna do it."**

"**Did he tell you that?" he asked gruffly.**

"**No…I'm just pretty perceptive when I wanna be. With the people I care about. I read people easy."**

"**Oh yeah? And how do you perceive me?" he asked, half-serious.**

"**Honestly?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Okay…" He asked for it. "I think you like this life because John likes it." I wasn't ridiculing him, so I hoped he didn't get offended. "What you want and what you need…is based on what your father wants and needs. On the surface, anyway."**

**Dean looked at me. "What does that mean?" He turned back to the road.**

"**It means, I think you can kind of relate to Sam, in a way. I'm not talking about the _normal life_ thing. I mean, this _is_ normal to you. I meant, having a family…having your family back together." I paused. I shouldn't have been telling Dean this…he might decide to leave me on the side of the road. Or he might start to avoid me…because I knew him. _Knew_ him because I was kind of like him. Aside from the one night stands, I agreed with almost everything he did. But not only that…I understood _why_ he did the things he did.**

"**Is that it?"**

"**No, but I don't want you to run away from me because you think I'm in your head or something."**

**He chuckled lightly, which wasn't the reaction I was expecting. I expected him to be angry or something negative like that.**

"**Your dad's approval means more to you than almost anything," I said softly, treading lightly. Dean didn't say anything, but I continued. "And how I perceive you…you and Sam and John, too, now, I guess…is…" I didn't quite know how to say it.**

"**Is what?" Dean actually seemed eager to know, like my opinion mattered.**

"**You…all three of you…give up so much of your own life to help people. It's like your happiness doesn't matter to you. You think it's worth it if you save someone. And that's…I don't think there's a word that describes what that is."**

**Dean looked at me in awe, like he couldn't believe I'd said that about him, but that's how I felt about him and Sam. John, too, but I didn't exactly agree with how he treated his sons. It was more like they were soldiers than his children.**

"**So, uh," Dean started uncertainly, "this is one of those things you're never gonna tell Sam about, right?"**

"**I would never tell Sam anything you didn't want him to know," I said truthfully. Dean seemed like the type of person who kept things inside, and everyone needed an outlet. If Dean wanted to use me as one, I didn't mind.**

**------------- -**

**It had been ten minutes since Dean had parked in front of a funeral home and had gone inside to find some blood. He was still in there and I was getting bored.**

**I took my cell phone out of my jeans pocket and looked at my friend's list…Layla was on the top of my list. I hadn't talked to her in ages…well, three and a half weeks, but that was ages to us. We used to talk every day.**

**I pushed her number in and pressed send. I brought the phone up to my ear and wondered whether I was going to get an answer. I hoped she did and I hoped she didn't. I mean, what was I supposed to say?**

"**Hello?'**

"**Hey," I said hesitantly.**

"**Alyson?" Layla sounded surprised.**

"**Hey," I said again.**

"**I haven't heard from you in a while. How've you been?"**

"**Um." That was a hard question to answer. "Fine, I guess. I'm alive."**

"**Well, good, because I would probably freak out if you were dead and I was talking to you."**

**I laughed. "Yeah, wouldn't you?" I sobered up pretty quickly. "I miss you." Man, that sounded lame.**

**I took a deep breath and let it out. "So…how've _you_ been? What have you been doin'?"**

"**Not much. Shopping for college." Layla paused. "That's about it. Not much to do without my best friend around." She'd said it as a joke, but I could tell she was being serious.**

"**I'm sorry," I whispered, but I knew she had heard me.**

"**Don't worry about it. You said those two guys could keep you safe and, since you're still alive, it's obviously working. I don't really get it, though."**

**I smiled. Good ol' Layla. Leave it to her to make me feel better about leaving her behind when we so obviously missed each other's company.**

"**Yeah, the guys are great. They're awesome, actually."**

"**They're hot," Layla put in.**

**I didn't say anything, but I could feel myself start to blush. The guys _were_ good looking, but that wasn't why I thought they were awesome. But I couldn't tell Layla _why_ I thought the way I did, so I just agreed. "Yeah, I'd actually noticed that."**

"**So, what, are the guys cops or something?"**

"**Um, or something…" I trailed off. "More like private investigators. More or less…"**

"**Really? I guess that would explain the car."**

**I laughed again. I was glad I'd called her. Things weren't strained or awkward like I thought it would be.**

"**Yeah. Dean loves the car. Sam doesn't get the reverence he has towards it, but I do. It's a _nice_ car. He won't let me drive it, though." I knew another reason Dean liked the car was because it had probably been the only thing in his life that had been a constant.**

**Layla giggled. "A muscle car…wanting to _drive_ a muscle car. That sounds like you."**

"**Yeah," I agreed.**

"**So, um…" Layla started, but didn't finish.**

"**So, um, what?" I saw Dean come out of the funeral home and wondered whether I should hurry and end the conversation or not.**

"**Are you guys staying in one place, or…" she trailed off.**

"**Um, no. We move around a lot. Different state every week. They look for jobs and stuff."**

"**Oh." She sounded disappointed. "Okay. Well, I was just thinking that, maybe, if you were staying somewhere close by, I could come see you…stay with you for a week or two before college starts."**

**Dean got in the car and sat down, putting a small brown paper bag down on the seat. "Man, there's some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys."**

"**Who was that?" Layla asked.**

"**Um…that was Dean. He's just jokin' around."**

"**About dead people?" Layla sounded skeptical.**

"**We saw a movie about…vampires and the people had to kill them because they were evil." I was just making it up as I went along and it sounded lame even to my ears.**

"**Oh." She still sounded skeptical, but I didn't blame her. "Okay…well, about what I said before…about me coming to see you."**

"**Layla, I don't think that's a good idea. I'm not a very safe person to be around right now." I looked at Dean who was staring fixedly out the window. He was no help. "I mean, I'll keep in touch. I'll call you when I can, but I don't think me being around you is a good idea."**

"**Okay," she whispered. "If you say so."**

"**Look, um, I really gotta go, but I'll call you soon, okay?"**

"**Yeah, I'm gonna hold you to that."**

"**You do that. And, Layla?"**

"**Yeah?"**

"**Take care, okay?"**

"**I will," she said, before she hung up.**

**I closed my phone and put it back in my jeans pocket. Dean apparently didn't find the window fascinating anymore because he looked at me. "You okay?"**

**I nodded. "She wants to see me. She wanted to come visit me for a week or two before college starts, but, with what we do…no" I wasn't going to drag her into this.**

"**So, I guess you're one of us, huh?"**

**I looked at him. "What?"**

"**Giving up your happiness for the sake of others."**

"**I'm-" I broke off. "I don't think I'm one of you."**

**Dean shrugged and started the car. "Yeah, well, everything I see says different."**

**------------- -**

**My mind was still reeling from the last conversation Dean and I had had. We were going back to the motel, which was more of a hunting lodge, really, but we were gonna stop and get food first.**

**Dean got a burger and fries for him, Sam, and John. I got chicken fingers and fries with a coke for myself.**

**When we got back to the motel we, of course, started eating. Thankfully, we didn't talk about or see the blood, which was in the brown paper bag.**

**Dean stole one of my chicken fingers. There were six, so I didn't really mind, but I stuck my tongue out at him, anyway. He grinned a little before he bit into the chicken.**

**John was looking at Dean and me in amusement. I wondered what that was about. We were just being ourselves. We were goofing around, as usual.**

**When we finished eating, we started making plans to capture the vampires. Basically, what was gonna happen was, Dean was going to park on the side of the road, alone, and pretend he had car trouble. Since the vampires knew our scent they'd track him. But we'd be hiding close by.**

"**One tiny flaw," I said, raising my hand. "Won't they smell _us_?" It was a valid question and John didn't get mad.**

"**Our scents are on him anyway. They won't be able to differentiate."**

"**And then what? We attack them with arrows?" They had crossbows.**

"**Arrows dipped with dead man's blood," Sam explained. "Once it gets in their systems, they'll get weak."**

"**And then we can stop them and help those people," Dean said.**

**I nodded. Helping those people was what mattered. Oh, and getting that gun. But the people came first to me.**

**------------- -**

**Sam, John, and I were in the truck and surprisingly, I wasn't that uncomfortable. Apparently, they had worked their issues out while Dean and I had been at the funeral home. Good for them**

**It was sunset and the vampires would come looking for us soon. We were following behind Dean, who apparently knew where he was going even if I didn't.**

**We pulled off the side of the road. It was near where the vampires nested, I knew that much. There were trees all around, so there would be no trouble hiding. Sam and I got out, but John stayed in the truck.**

"**I'm gonna go hide the truck about a half a mile away, but I'll be back." He pulled the jar of blood out from his coat pocket. "Get the crossbows out of the back." He handed the jar to Sam.**

**We didn't even have to put the tailgate down to get the crossbows since Sam was so tall. He could just reach over the top and grab them. He handed one to me and kept one for himself. They both held only three arrows, so hopefully no more than six vampires came.**

**Sam and I walked over to Dean, who was leaning on the hood of his car.**

"**So, I get to shoot, right?" I asked.**

"**You know how to use that thing?" Dean asked.**

"**Yes. I've taken lessons and unlike with a gun…I was a natural with this." I looked at Sam. "Besides, I kinda think this is the way to prove to John that I'm serious about this."**

**Sam nodded. "Yeah, okay."**

**We were silent until John came back and as he came up to us he reached for my crossbow. Well, it was his, but it was in my hands, so it was mine at that moment.**

"**I can do it," I said firmly.**

**He looked at me skeptically. "And you won't miss?"**

**I shook my head. "I won't miss."**

**John nodded, but I knew he didn't believe me. I guess I'd have to prove him wrong. "All right. Let's hide."**

**Sam and John headed off in the direction of the trees. I turned to Dean. "Don't make them _too_ angry, okay?"**

**He smirked. He knew exactly what I was talking about.**

"**Okay?" I asked again.**

"**Yeah, yeah."**

**I turned to walk into the trees where Sam and John were, but froze when I felt a sudden chill. I sped up to get to the hiding place.**

"**They're coming," I said to Sam. I turned and saw that Dean had popped the hood of the car while my back had been turned. He was now leaning over it, pretending something was wrong with it.**

"**How do you know?" John asked, looking around. They weren't here yet.**

**I looked at him. "I, um…you know what, I'll explain later, but we need to hurry and get these arrows ready."**

**Sam pulled out the jar of blood and took the top off. He dipped his arrows first and then I dipped mine. It was fairly disgusting…but whatever works. Right?**

**By the time we were done with the arrows, a woman-vampire had shown up. She looked like a rocker chick. She wore a black short-sleeved shirt on top of a white long-sleeved shirt. She had a jean jacket vest and blue jeans on.**

**I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could see Dean's lips move. Apparently, he did something wrong because the woman hit him, knocking him to the ground. He'd made her angry…like I'd known he would.**

**The next thing I knew, another vampire-this one male-came up behind the woman, grinning. The woman grabbed Dean by the chin with one hand and lifted him off the ground. Okay, that meant she was _extremely_ strong, but I'd figured that, so it didn't surprise me.**

**I saw Dean's lips move again and then the woman was pretty much molesting his mouth. Ew. Anyway, that's when I brought my crossbow up and aimed for her. It hit her in the middle of her chest, which was what I had been aiming for. She dropped Dean.**

**Sam then hit the other one, also in the chest. Sam, John, and I came out from behind the trees, with our weapons pointed at them. John had his machete at the ready.**

"**Damn it," I heard her say as she turned towards us. "Barely even stings."**

"**Give it time, sweetheart. That arrow's soaked in dead man's blood," John said. "It's like poison to you, isn't it?"**

**The male vampire fell to his knees and the other fell backwards into Dean, who picked her up.**

"**Load her up. I'll take care of this one," John said.**

**Dean carried her to the backseat of the car-I assumed we were going to drop John off at his truck-and shut the door behind him. "She's unconscious," he called out.**

**Sam grabbed my arm. "Come on."**

**He was looking at his dad, so I looked that way, too. He had his machete raised in the air. I got it. Sam didn't want me seeing that. I didn't want me seeing that, either, so I turned away to go to the car, but I could still hear when it happened…I could hear the blood splatter on the ground and I shuddered.**

"**All right. We need to get back to the truck. I have some stuff that should cover our scents."**

**John cleaned his blade off and came over to the car. He got in the backseat and Sam climbed in after him. I got in the front seat with Dean.**

"**So, who shot the Dracu-babe back there?" Dean asked.**

"**Me," I said proudly.**

"**Good shot," he said and I could feel myself smile brightly.**

"**I told you I wouldn't miss," I said, looking back at John.**

"**How did you know they were coming before they got there?" John asked.**

**I took a deep breath, Dean started the car, and I turned around in the front seat so I could look at John comfortably. "I can sort of sense when something supernatural is around. Supernatural radar…or something."**

"**Is that why the demon's after you?" John looked like he was trying to wrap his head around that concept.**

"**We don't know," Sam said. "All we know is that she's supposed to be inherently good. That would be a good reason for a demon to want someone dead, right?"**

"**That would be a good reason for a _lot_ of demons to want someone dead. Once word gets around…she's gonna be in a lot of danger." John looked at me. "You really don't know what's going on?"**

"**No." I figured now would be a good time to mention the letter. "Um…my mom left me a letter. She said a priest had come to see her after I was born. He told her that I would be able to do amazing things and I guess sensing supernatural beings is one of them."**

"**What do you mean…sense them?"**

"**I get the chills. At first, I would hyperventilate, but then I got used to it, I guess. Sometimes I get shaky, but other than that I'm good, now."**

**We arrived at John's truck and the first thing we did was tie the vampire to a tree. Then we went to John's truck and he lowered the tailgate. He started digging around in a case he had in the back.**

**He pulled out a bag of something and handed it to Dean. "Make a fire and toss this in it."**

"**What is it?" I asked.**

"**Saffron, skunks, cabbage, and trillium. It'll block our scents and hers until we're ready."**

**Dean opened the bag and sniffed. "This stuff stinks."**

**I grinned. Dean obviously hadn't heard his dad say the word 'skunks'.**

**I watched as Dean built a fire and threw everything that was in the bag in it. Now that it was burning, I could smell it. It was one of those stenches where you just wanna hold your breath until it goes away. But seeing as to how we were standing right by the fire, I couldn't hold my breath that long.**

"**Dust your clothes with the ashes, and you'll stand a chance of not being detected."**

**Sam looked from the vampire tied to the tree to John. "You sure they'll come after her?"**

"**Yeah," John answered. "Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is gonna wear off soon. So you don't have a lot of time to get those people out."**

"**Half-hour ought to do it," Sam said, messing with a machete that was strapped to his waist.**

"**And then I want you out of the area as fast as you can."**

"**But-" Sam started, but Dean interrupted.**

"**Dad, you can't take care of them all yourself."**

"**I'll have her," he nodded towards the vampire, "and the Colt."**

"**But after…we're gonna meet up, right? Use the gun _together_, right?" Sam asked.**

**John looked away and didn't say anything. I got it. He was taking off again.**

"**You're leaving again, aren't you? You still want to go after the demon alone? You know, I don't get you. You can't treat us like this." Sam didn't seem angry now, just disappointed.**

"**Like what?" John asked.**

"**Like children."**

"**You two _are_ my children," John said. "I'm trying to keep you safe."**

"**Dad, all due respect, but, uh, that's a bunch a crap." Finally, Dean had called BS.**

**Sam and John looked at him, surprised. I, however, was silently applauding him. Go Dean. I was proud of him.**

"**Excuse me?" John asked.**

"**You know what Sammy and I have been huntin'," Dean said. "Hell, you sent us on a few huntin' trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe."**

"**It's not the same thing, Dean."**

"**Then what is it? Why do you want us out of the big fight?"**

**John took a deep breath. "This demon? It's a bad son of a bitch. I can't make the same moves if I'm worried about keeping you alive."**

"**You mean you can't be as reckless," I put in. It wasn't my place, but it needed to be said.**

**Thankfully, John didn't get mad. "Look…I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother's death…it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die, too. I won't."**

"**What happens if you die?" Dean asked, practically whispering. "Dad, what happens if you die and we could have done somethin' about it? You know, I've been thinkin'…I think maybe Sammy's right about this one. I think we should do this together. We're stronger as a family. We just are. You know it."**

**John was silent for a moment, like he was actually contemplating sticking around, but then he shook his head. "We're running out of time. You do your job, and you get out of the area. That's an order."**

**John walked away from his sons once again. Sam and Dean looked pretty mad, but I could tell they were more worried than angry. I felt for them. They probably had a long and varied list of memories where all they could see was their father's back walking away from them.**

**------------- -**

**By the time we got the people out, we'd already killed another vampire. So, that was two down.**

**We made sure they were all medically okay and aside from being scared half to death, they all seemed fine.**

**We left the barn and was gonna get in the car, but I stopped. "We should go find your dad," I said. "I mean, you know where he's at, but we should at least make sure he's okay."**

**Apparently, both Sam and Dean had been thinking it, they just hadn't said it, because they didn't even agree out loud, they just grabbed the weapons we'd need-the machetes and the crossbows. The arrows had already been dipped in the blood, so we were good to go.**

**Sam had the machete, so Dean and I had the crossbows, which was fine with me.**

"**All right. It'll be easier to sneak up if we walk than if we drive," Dean said. "Let's go."**

**By the time we found John, he was on the ground by his truck. The window had been smashed and he was lying in the glass. There were four other vampires besides the one we'd captured. Two girls, two guys. I lifted my crossbow and shot one of the girls and Dean shot one of the guys. Sam raised his blade to take one of them out, but the head guy hit him, knocking him to the ground. Sam dropped his machete and the vampire grabbed him, bringing Sam back to his feet, and started choking him.**

**Dean grabbed the blade from the ground, but before he could do any damage, the head guy said, "don't or I'll break his neck." Dean looked frustrated, but he paused. "Put the blade down."**

**I could tell that Sam was desperately trying to get some air in his lungs. Dean gave in and dropped the blade. It clattered on the ground.**

"**You people…why can't you just leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do."**

**I saw John get up off the ground with a gun-_the_ gun-in his hands.**

"**I don't think so."**

**The vampire turned around, dragging Sam with him. John shot the vampire in the middle of the forehead and he let Sam go. Sam had blood on his cheek from where the vampire had been shot. Sam, Dean, and I watched as the guy fell to his knees. There was a flash of light and then he wasn't moving at all.**

**The female vampire we'd captured was glaring at John murderously. He'd killed her mate. Of course she'd be furious.**

**The two vampires that were left dragged her away and Sam beheaded the one with the poison in his system.**

**I was kind of shocked that the gun had actually worked and, from the expression on their faces, Sam and Dean were, too.**

**John was smiling slightly, triumphantly, which I got, because now we knew how to kill the demon.**

"**Okay, you three head back to the car. The vampires won't go back to the barn, so you don't have to worry about that."**

"**What are you gonna do?" I asked.**

"**Hide these bodies somewhere in the woods."**

**Oh. Sounded reasonable.**

**------------- -**

**After we'd gotten back to the car, we went back to the hunting lodge motel and started packing our stuff so we'd be ready to go in the morning. John came in not long after we were done.**

"**So…" he walked towards us.**

"**Yes, sir?" Sam asked.**

"**You ignored a direct order back there." I could tell he wasn't angry, just surprised.**

"**Yes, sir," Sam said again.**

"**But we saved your ass," Dean put in and I had to look at the ground so they wouldn't see me grinning.**

"**You're right," John said.**

"**I am?" Dean asked hesitantly.**

"**It scares the hell out of me. You two are all I've got. But I guess we _are_ stronger as a family. So…we go after this damn thing…together."**

"**Yes, sir," Sam and Dean said in unison.**

**It was a perfect family moment and I hated to ruin it, but I had to ask. "With me, right?" There was that little voice in my head again that was scared of being left behind, which was stupid, but I couldn't help it.**

**John was smiling slightly again, though. "Yeah, with you."**

**I was happy. At least there wouldn't be any fighting due to my being there. I was part of the unit.**

* * *

**So, another chapter done. I wasn't too sure if my John-voice was good...you know, how he reacted to Alyson being there and stuff. Um I added some subtle flirting between Alyson and Dean because she's still too young to be getting serious, but she is slowly falling for him. Sort of. She just doesn't know it yet.  
Also, I have a question. Maybe not in this season, but maybe somewhere in the next one, I might write a standalone chapter where, you know, Alyson gets kidnapped by something evil and supernatural. Any ideas what could happen to her that isn't all kinds of traumatic. Because my mind keeps landing on rape or torture which is definitely all kinds of traumatic.**


	7. Salvation Part One

**Flight815Down: I seemed to give you happy for mentioning your review, so I figured I'd do it again. LOL. Anyway, I'm really glad you like the story. I was surprised when you said it was one of your absolute favorite stories, but I was happy. That pretty much made my day. I've always been a little self-conscious when it comes to my writing, but knowing that you and the other readers like it makes me feel better. So...yeah, keep the reviews coming, please.**

**Chapter Ten**

**It had been a month-give or take a few days-since John had come into my life and back into Sam's and Dean's.**

**John knew everything about me now. He knew that I could block people from reading my mind. He knew that I could heal myself. He knew that I could sense when supernatural things were around. He knew about the letter my mom had left me. I'd told him about it after I'd gotten comfortable around him and after he'd found out I could heal.**

**Him finding out I could heal was kind of an accident. Dean had been helping me sharpen a blade and then we'd started talking and I hadn't been paying full attention to what I'd been doing. It wasn't second nature to me yet. I apparently hadn't been holding the sharpener right, because I'd sliced into my finger.**

**That had been an attention-getter. When you have a knife in your hand, pay attention…Duh!**

**It hadn't been too deep and it had healed in about a second, but it had gotten John's attention. He'd been just about to break out the first aid kit when I'd told him there was no need.**

**He'd looked confused when I'd wiped the blood off my finger and he'd realized there was no cut. Then we'd had to explain the first time I'd healed. That's when I'd shown him the letter.**

**He'd said he'd never heard of anything like that before. The warrior of light bit or the healing myself thing. I didn't mind. It seemed like nobody but the yellow-eyed demon knew who or what I was.**

**Dean had then taken the knife and sharpener away from me and had told me that I seemed to be more danger to myself that I would be to any demon that attacked me. I hadn't been offended. He was just joking and it had been my stupidity for not paying attention when I was sharpening the knife.**

**Anyway, I'd been with Sam and Dean for almost two months now. John had been with us for about a month of that. I'd been practicing shooting every other day and I was getting pretty good. Not great, but decent. I hit about four out of every six targets.**

**I hadn't tried a shotgun yet and I probably wouldn't unless I really needed to. The force of a shotgun would probably knock me right on my butt.**

**As I got to know John, I came to understand that he loved his sons, even if he had a weird way of showing it. I didn't know if it was because I wasn't his child or if it was because I was a girl, but he hardly every ordered me around, which was probably a good thing, because I was like Sam in that respect. I didn't like being bossed around; I wasn't used to it. My mom had never been the do-this-do-that type. Besides, I probably wouldn't listen unless I was gonna do it anyway.**

**------------- -**

**Sam, Dean, and I had just got done with target practice and I was happy because my arm didn't get sore anymore, which meant my muscles were getting used to it.**

**We stopped to get food to take back to the motel we were staying at. We probably would have ate at the diner if we hadn't have had to take John something.**

**When we got back to our room, we saw John pinning a bunch or paper to the walls. Some of them had writing on them…others had symbols and other things I knew nothing about. The laptop was on the table, which had been moved to the middle of the room so that two of us could sit at the table while the other two could sit on the bed but use the table if we needed it.**

**John sat down in front of the laptop. He looked exhausted, which I got because he'd obviously done all this since we'd left. None of the papers had been on the wall before. There was barely a blank space on the wall.**

**I looked closer and saw that what was on the wall was maps, newspaper articles, book pages, and photographs.**

**Dean put the food on the table and looked around at the walls. "What's all this?"**

"**This is it." John gestured at the walls. "This is everything I know. Look, our whole lives we've been searching for this demon, right? And not a trace, just nothing…until about a year ago. For the first time, I picked up a trail."**

"**That's when you took off," Dean said. He looked at Sam and me. We were standing in front of the window.**

**John nodded. "Yeah, that's right. The demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation."**

"**All right, so, what's this trail you found?" Dean asked.**

"**It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California. Houses are burning to the ground. It's going after families…just like it went after us."**

"**Families with infants?" Sam asked.**

"**Yeah. The night of the kid's six months birthday."**

"**I was six months old that night?"**

"**Exactly six months."**

"**So, basically, this demon is goin' after these kids for some reason…the same way it came for me?" Sam asked. "So, Mom's death, Jessica…it's all 'cause of me?"**

"**We don't know that, Sam," Dean said.**

"**Oh, really, 'cause I'd say we're pretty damn sure, Dean."**

"**Sam," I said. "What happened to them isn't your fault. I mean, you told me what happened to _my_ mom wasn't my fault, so you can't blame yourself, either."**

"**Yeah, you're right. It's not my fault, but it's my problem!"**

"**No, it's not your problem, it's our problem!" Dean said heatedly.**

"**He's right, Sam," I said. "If this thing messes with one of us it messes with all of us."**

**Sam shook his head and looked like he was gonna say something, but John interrupted. "Okay. That's enough." He stood up from the table and we stood there silently for at least a minute.**

"**So, why is it doing it? What does it want?" Sam asked, turning away from us.**

"**Look, I wish I had more answers. I do," John said. "I've always been one step behind it. Look, I've never gotten there in time to save…" he trailed off.**

**Tension started to fill the room. "All right, so, how do we find it before it hits again?" Dean asked carefully.**

"**There are signs. Look, it took me a while to see the pattern, but in the days before these fires, signs crop up in an area. Cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms. And then I went back and checked and, uh…"**

**Dean looked like he was having a light-bulb moment. "These things happened in Lawrence." John nodded. "And in San Francisco," Dean looked at me.**

**It was true. The weather had been strange for a few days before the demon had arrived.**

"**And in Palo Alto…before Jessica," John put in. "And these signs…they're starting again."**

"**Where?" Sam asked, determination lacing his voice.**

"**Salvation, Iowa," John answered. "It'll take about a day to get there."**

**It struck me as weird that John had gone to all this trouble to pin the stuff on the wall if he was just gonna have to take it right back off, but then I realized he was probably used to that.**

**------------- -**

**After we'd eaten, we helped John take the stuff off the walls; he hadn't seemed to be worried about any particular order. He'd probably memorized most of it, anyway.**

**After we'd gotten everything together we'd left. We still had the two separate vehicles, so we'd taken them both.**

**My mind was still going through what Sam had asked earlier. What did this demon want? And why? I mean, it had messed up our lives, royally. Wasn't that enough? Why was it going after _these_ kids? Why had it gone after Sam?**

"**Hey, you're awfully quiet back there," Sam said, turning in his seat to look at me. "What're you doin?"**

"**Just thinkin'," I said.**

"**You haven't said a word since we got in the car," Dean said.**

**He didn't ask me what I was thinking about; neither did Sam. Chances were, they knew. They were probably thinking the same thing.**

"**What if we don't get there in time?" I asked.**

"**We will," Sam said. "We're gonna stop this demon."**

**I knew he was just saying it to comfort me, but I nodded anyway, taking it in, trying to convince myself that it was true.**

**We had just entered Salvation, Iowa, when John, who we were following, pulled off onto the side of the road. He got out of his truck and we did the same.**

"**Damn it." John hit the side of his truck. "Son of a bitch!"**

"**What is it?" Dean asked, closing the car door.**

"**I just got a call from Caleb." I knew that was an old friend.**

"**Is he okay?"**

"**He's fine. Jim Murphy is dead."**

"**Pastor Jim?" Sam was shocked. "How?"**

"**Throat was slashed…he bled out." That hit close to home. That was how my mother had died. "Caleb said they found traces of sulfur at Jim's place."**

"**A demon," I said, more to myself than anyone else, but they all heard me.**

"**_The _demon?" Dean asked.**

"**I don't know. Could be he just got careless, he slipped up," John said, thinking out loud. "Maybe the demon knows we're gettin' close."**

"**What do you wanna do?"**

"**Now we act like every second counts." Because it probably does. "There's two hospitals and a health center in this county. We split up, we cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's gonna be six months old in the next week."**

"**Dad, that could be dozens of kids," Sam said. He wasn't being stubborn, he was just stating a fact. "How the hell are we gonna know which one's the right one?"**

"**We'll check 'em all, that's how." John looked at Sam. "You got any better ideas?"**

**Sam hesitated. "No, sir."**

**John turned to get back in his truck, but then stopped.**

"**Dad?" Dean asked in an are-you-okay voice.**

"**Yeah…it's Jim. You know, I can't…" he trailed off. This was more emotion than I'd ever seen coming from John. "This ends. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes."**

**John got back in his truck and we got back in the Impala.**

"**If it was the demon…it won't stop with just one person," I said softly. "It'll keep going after the people you care about."**

**Neither of the boys said anything. They probably knew I was right.**

**------------- -**

**Dean dropped Sam and me off at the medical center. We were supposed to be getting information from birth certificates. John and Dean were going to go to the two hospitals and do the same thing.**

**The problem was that there were three file folders to go through at the medical center alone. So, if it was like that at the hospitals, John and Dean would be there all day.**

**By the time we got done, Sam and I had the babies names, exact time of birth, parents names, and addresses.**

**We handed the files back to the woman that was at the nurses station and then we left. As we were walking, Sam stopped and grabbed his head.**

"**Sam?" I didn't know what was going on. "What's wrong?" That was a stupid question. Obviously, his head was bothering him or he wouldn't have been grabbing at it.**

"**There's a woman," he said. I looked around. There weren't any women around, apart from me. "And a train…"**

**Oh. I got it. He was having a vision. I stood there, feeling like an idiot because I didn't know what to do. He was rubbing his temples now. His head must have really been hurting him.**

**I had half a mind to call Dean, but I figured he was probably busy. But then I thought that even if Dean was busy he'd wanna know. I mean, it was Sam.**

**Sam stopped holding his head, so I assumed the worst was over. "You okay?" I asked shakily. "For a minute there I thought your head was gonna explode."**

"**Yeah, that's what it felt like." Sam reached into his pocket and brought out a map, muttering the word _train_. It took him about two seconds to find what he was looking for. "Grace Avenue. That's not too far from here." He grabbed my arm. "Come on."**

**I didn't question him about the street name and I didn't yank my arm back. I basically had to run to keep up with him, though. Darn him and his long legs. "Sam, those headaches…are they normal? I mean, do you always have them when…" I trailed off.**

"**Only when I'm awake. That hasn't happened a lot."**

"**Does it still hurt?"**

"**Not a lot. The pain lingers, but it's not so bad. Just like a dull headache."**

**We reached Grace Avenue and Sam stopped walking, stopped dragging me along. "This is it." He was looking at a two-story white house. It wasn't an off white, either. It was a perfect white. "That's her." Sam pointed to a woman who was walking her baby in a stroller.**

**We walked over and Sam said hi.**

"**Hey."**

**I looked at the baby. She was wearing pink. "She's gorgeous. Is she yours?"**

"**Yeah." The woman nodded.**

"**Oh, wow," Sam said. "I'm sorry, I'm rude. I'm Sam. I just moved in up the block." He shook her hand. "This is my sister, Alyson."**

"**Hey," I smiled.**

"**Oh, hey. I'm Monica. This is Rosie." She looked at her baby.**

**I squatted down so I could see Rosie better. "Hi, Rosie." I ran my finger over her open palm and she squeezed it. "Hey." I smiled. She was cute.**

"**So, welcome to the neighborhood," Monica said.**

"**Thank you," Sam replied. "She's such a good baby."**

"**I know. I mean, she never cries. She just stares at everybody." Monica smiled. "Sometimes she looks at you, and I swear, it's like she's reading your mind."**

**I looked up at her. "Babies can be very perceptive to the people around them."**

"**Have you lived here long?" Sam asked.**

"**My husband and I, we bought my place just before Rosie was born."**

"**And how old is Rosie?"**

"**She's six months today." Neither Sam nor I said anything. "It's big, right? She's growin' like a weed."**

"**Yeah." Sam paused. "Monica?"**

"**Yeah?"**

"**Just, um, just take care of yourself, okay?"**

"**Yeah, you too, Sam. We'll see you around."**

"**Yeah," I said, pulling my finger gently from Rosie's hand. "Definitely." I stood up and grabbed Sam by the wrist, gently tugging so he'd follow me.**

**We started walking, but then Sam grabbed his head again. He was having another vision. "Sam?" He didn't answer, so I didn't hesitate to call Dean.**

**He answered with a "what's up?"**

"**Are you busy?"**

"**Uh, I was. I'm done now."**

"**Okay, well," I looked around making sure no one was within hearing distance. "Sam had a vision. It was about this woman. She has a baby that six months old _today_."**

"**Well, do you know who she is?" Dean asked urgently.**

"**Her name is Monica. We just talked to her. Her baby's name is Rosie. And we know where she lives."**

"**Where are you? I'm comin' to get you."**

"**Um…Grace Avenue. It's near the train tracks."**

"**Okay. Watch him, okay?"**

"**Okay…but I don't really know what I'm supposed to do."**

"**Just stay with him. There's not much you can do. I'll be there shortly."**

**------------- -**

**As soon as Dean picked us up, he checked us into a motel. He called John to tell him where we were and that we knew where the demon was gonna attack next.**

**Sam sat at the table, Dean sat on the bed, and I just stood there. Sam's head was still hurting, I could tell. He was rubbing his temples again. I dug into my purse, which I was still holding, looking for some headache medicine. I didn't know if it would help, but I was gonna give some to Sam anyway.**

**I went to the sink and got him a little paper cup of water and put it in front of him. I then gave him two Excedrin and watched as he took them.**

"**Thanks," he said.**

**A few minutes later, John walked in. "Okay, what happened?"**

**Sam explained the vision he'd had and how we'd talked to Monica, the woman from his vision.**

"**A vision?" John seemed stunned. I guess that meant he hadn't know about them.**

"**Yes." Sam started rubbing his head again. "I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling."**

"**All right, and you think it's gonna happen to this woman you met because…?"**

"**Because these things happen exactly the way I see them."**

**I moved behind Sam, who was still seated in the chair and replaced his hands with my own, rubbing slow circular motions around his temples.**

"**That's how they found me," I put in. "He dreamed it was coming after me."**

"**What?" Now John seemed confused.**

"**Yeah," Dean said. He was still on the bed, but he got up and walked over to the table. "It started out as nightmares, and then he started havin' them when he was awake."**

"**It's like the closer I get to anything involving the demon, the stronger the visions get…the more painful."**

"**All right, when were you gonna tell me about this?" John was irritated now.**

"**We didn't know what it meant," Dean explained.**

"**All right, something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone, and you call me."**

**Dean walked over to John, getting right in front of him. "Call you? Are you kiddin' me? Dad, I called you from Lawrence, all right? Sam called you when I was dying. Gettin' you on the phone…I've got a better chance of winnin' the lottery."**

**I stopped rubbing Sam's temples and brought by hands to rest on his shoulders instead.**

"**You're right," John said. "Although I'm not real crazy about this new tone of yours, you're right. I'm sorry."**

**Dean nodded and walked back to us.**

"**Look, guys, visions or no visions, the fact is, we know the demon is coming tonight at 8:45. And this family's gonna go through the same hell that we went through," Sam said.**

"**No, they're not," I said. "Because we're gonna stop it." I squeezed both of his shoulders before dropping my hands completely. I realized I was basically just repeating what he'd said to me earlier that day.**

**One of the guys' cell phones rang; I knew it wasn't mine because mine had a ringtone.**

**It ended up being Sam's. "Hello?" He paused. "Who is this?" He paused again and then looked shocked. "Meg. Last time I saw you, you fell out of a window." Dean looked shocked too and I had no clue what was going on. Sam put the cell on speaker phone because he knew how frustrated it would make me, not being able to hear it, especially if I needed to.**

"**Yeah, thanks to you. That really hurt my feelings, by the way."**

"**Just your feelings? That was a seven-story drop."**

"**Let me speak to your dad." It wasn't a request. It was a demand.**

"**My dad? I don't know where my dad is." But even as Sam said that, John was making his way towards the phone.**

"**It's time for the grown-ups to talk, Sam. Let me speak to him, now."**

"**This is John." I was surprised John didn't pick up the cell and take it off of speaker phone, but I was glad he didn't.**

"**Howdy, John. I'm Meg. I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood." John looked down at the floor. "Still there, John Boy?"**

"**I'm here."**

"**Well, that was yesterday. Today, I'm in Lincoln…visiting another old friend of yours. He wants to say hi."**

**Suddenly a male voice came over the line. "John, whatever they do, don't give-" he broke off.**

"**Caleb?" John was worried. "Caleb?" He didn't get an answer. "You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with this. You let him go," he was talking to Meg now.**

"**We know you have the Colt, John."**

"**I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.**

"**Oh. Okay," Meg sounded amused. "So, listen to this."**

**I could tell just from the sounds he was making that his throat had been slit. Images of my mom making those noises filled my mind. I brought my hands up to my ears to block out the noise and held on tight. I felt a hand on my back and I didn't have to look to know it was Dean. It was odd how familiar his touch was to me already and I hadn't even known him that long. He was moving his thumb back and forth in a soothing way and I leaned into it a little, letting my hands fall back to my sides.**

"**Can you hear that? That's the sound of your friend dying, now let's try this again. We know you have the gun, John. Word travels fast. So, as far as we're concerned you just declared war. And this is what war looks like…it has casualties."**

**The sounds stopped, so Dean dropped his hand from my back.**

**John clenched and unclenched his jaw. "I'm gonna kill you, you know that?"**

"**Oh, John, please, mind your blood pressure." She was mocking him. "So, this is the thing…we're gonna keep doing what we're doing, and your friends, anyone who has ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved…they'll all die unless you give us that gun." John took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm waiting, Johnny. Better answer before the buzzer." She was still mocking him. Did she have a death wish?**

"**Okay," John said quietly.**

"**Sorry. I didn't quite get that."**

"**I said okay. I'll bring the Colt." Sam, Dean, and I looked at him incredulously. He was giving her what she wanted?**

"**There's a warehouse in Lincoln, on the corner of Wabash and Lake. You're gonna meet me there at midnight tonight."**

"**That's impossible. I can't get there on time, and I can't carry a gun on a plane."**

"**Oh. Then I guess your friends die, don't they?" She paused. "If you do decide to make it, come alone."**

**John hung up and looked down at the floor sadly.**

"**Okay…she isn't human, right? She's a demon?" I asked. I figured I didn't need to know where Sam and Dean knew her from. I knew she was an enemy and that was all I needed to know.**

"**Either that or she's possessed by one. It doesn't really matter," John answered.**

"**What do we do?" Dean asked.**

"**I'm going to Lincoln."**

"**What?" Dean stepped forward.**

"**It doesn't seem like I have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die. Our friends die."**

"**Right," I said. "You're gonna fix this by giving Meg what she wants, so she can kill _us_." I paused. "And, yes, that was sarcasm, by the way."**

**John didn't say anything.**

"**Dad, the demon is coming tonight for Monica and her family," Sam reminded him. "That gun is all we've got. You can't just hand it over."**

"**Who said anything about handing it over? Look, besides us and a couple of vampires, no one's really seen the gun. No one knows what it looks like."**

"**So, what, you're just gonna pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?" Dean asked skeptically.**

"**Antique store," John corrected.**

**I laughed once or twice out loud. "You're gonna hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"**

"**Look, as long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference."**

"**Yeah, but for how long?" Dean nearly shouted. "What happens when she figures it out?"**

"**I just…I just need to buy a few hours, that's all."**

**He was gonna leave us here with the Colt. "You mean for us," I said. John said nothing.**

"**You want us to stay here…and kill this demon by ourselves?" Sam asked.**

"**No. Sam. I wanna stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home." Dean looked down at the floor and John turned away from us with tears in his eyes. "I want Mary alive." He turned back to us. "I just…I just want this to be over."**

**------------- -**

**Dean went to get the gun-he'd been gone for about thirty minutes-and I had stayed behind with Sam and John to help him get ready to go. Every instinct had told me to go with Dean, that he needed someone right now, because his dad was leaving him again. Again being the operative word there. But then I thought that he would've asked if he wanted someone to come with him. But then I realized no, he wouldn't. He wasn't good at asking for things even when he really wanted them. _Especially_ when he wanted them.**

**We were at John's truck, helping him get his things together and in order.**

"**You know this is a trap, don't you? That's why Meg wants you to come alone," I said, looking at John and Sam nodded his agreement.**

"**I can handle her. I got a whole arsenal loaded."**

**I nodded, but didn't say anything because Dean pulled in beside us at that moment. He was holding a gun-shaped thing wrapped in paper and he handed it to John.**

"**Dad…"**

"**What?"**

"**Promise me something."**

"**What's that?"**

"**This thing goes south, just get the hell out. Don't get yourself killed. You're no good to us dead."**

**That had been what I was gonna say, except I was leaning more towards I didn't think the guys could take it if their dad died.**

**John nodded. "Same goes for you." He took the real Colt out of his pocket and handed it to Dean. I hoped Meg hadn't heard a description of the gun because the only thing that matched was the length and type. "All right, listen to me. They made the bullets special for this Colt. There's only four of 'em left. Without 'em, this gun is useless. You make every shot count."**

"**Yes, sir," Sam said.**

"**I've been waiting a long time for this fight," John said. "Now, it's here, and I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you guys now. It's your fight. You finish this. You finish what I started. You understand?"**

**We nodded. "No pressure or anything," I joked.**

"**We'll see you soon, Dad," Sam said, confidently.**

**John smiled. "I'll see you later." He got into his truck and drove away.**

**When his truck was out of sight, Dean said, "yeah, later."**

**I grabbed his arm and squeezed gently, but let go almost immediately, because I didn't know if he wanted to be comforted or not. His mouth twitched into a small smile, so I assumed he didn't mind as much as I'd thought he would.**

**I suddenly wondered how we were gonna do this. How we were gonna kill this demon and what would happen if we did.**

* * *

**Okay, so this chapter is shorter than the other ones, and I was gonna just do the whole episode in just one chapter, bu then I didn't, obviously. Dean is getting comfortable with the whole comforting thing, which is good if I'm gonna go where I wanna go with this. He's still at the I can only comfort you when no one's looking stage, but I think that's just so Dean-like I don't know if he'll ever get out of that. Anyway, thanks to the people that reviewed. I appreciate it and I enjoy reading them.**


	8. Salvation Part TwoDevil's Trap Part One

**Keisha-Wow...I made you review. LOL. I'm glad you think she's really down to earth because that's what I was aiming for. And I'm glad you like the character interactions, because I think they're good, too.**

**Sarah-I know what you're talking about with the wanting them to kiss thing...but I haven't had the Eureka moment yet of when it would be the perfect time. And I kinda want them to go slow, because, you know, she's inexperienced and all. But, who better to learn from, right? LOL, kidding...sorta. But, yes, she's turning 18 in September and if I go by the episode timeline then that would be around about the time John dies.**

**Angbethea-I keep reading your reviews over and over again. And they make me smile and/or laugh each time. Like the way you say thoughts of Dean make you ramble. I'm right there with ya. As are a bunch of other people, probably.**

**Chapter Eleven**

**We were back in the motel now and Sam was taking a shower. Why, I didn't know. I mean, we were just going to go kill a demon. You didn't have to look nice to do that.**

**But it had left Dean and me alone. He wasn't saying much and I knew it was because John had left again.**

**He was sitting on one of the beds, cleaning a gun. I knew it was because he didn't have anything else to do, apart from thinking.**

**I sat down beside him and opened my mouth to ask if he was okay, but he beat me to the punch.**

"**I'm fine."**

**I shook my head. "No, you're not. And, Dean," I paused, "you don't have to be. Not with me. I mean, I know you put on this macho show-no-fear façade for Sam, but you don't have to do that for me. I can see through it." I laughed a little. "Sam can too, probably."**

**Dean put down the gun he'd been cleaning. "I'm worried," he said. "My dad's walking into a trap."**

"**I think he knows that. I told him that myself, actually." I looked at him. "He said he could handle her."**

**Dean nodded. "We should have gone with him…but this family-the demon's attacking tonight."**

"**Yeah. And we have to help them."**

**He nodded again and then stood up from the bed. "You know, I've been thinking about what you said." He paused and took a deep breath. "About us giving up our lives, our happiness, to help others. It's not fair."**

**I smiled slightly. Did he just realize that? "No, it's not. But we do it everyday. _You_ do it everyday. We suffer so that other people don't have to."**

**He sighed and sat back down beside me. "This is a sucky pep talk."**

"**Hey, I'm nothing if not honest," I said. "And I wasn't trying to cheer you up."**

**We were silent for a while, but it was a comfortable silence. It was one of those silences where you don't feel the need to say anything. You're just enjoying being with that person.**

**Dean looked at me, opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then closed it again.**

"**What?"**

"**Nothin'. Never mind," he said.**

"**No, you were going to say something. What?"**

**He took a breath. "Did you…do you sense anything off about Sam?"**

"**What?" I was confused.**

"**His visions," he said softly. He was worried.**

"**Well, no, not really. I was freaked out, though. But I didn't sense anything weird or bad." I paused, because it was weird that I hadn't sensed anything. "It's probably because they're random, ya know, he can't control them."**

"**Yeah." He smirked. "He freaked you out, huh?"**

**I blushed a little. "Well, nobody told me what happens when he has a vision. I didn't know what was going on."**

**Dean tilted his head, looking at me. "You blush a lot," he said matter of factly.**

**That, of course, made me blush harder because he had noticed. He smiled, like he enjoyed making my face turn red.**

"**You're doing that on purpose," I accused.**

"**Yeah. And I'll probably do it again, soon. Most girls don't blush anymore."**

"**Actually, a lot of girls blush. Just not the ones you…ya know, tent to lean towards."**

**I was just about to suggest a subject change, when Sam walked out of the bathroom. His hair was still wet, but he was fully dressed, which was a good thing because I didn't think my face could get any warmer than it already was.**

**------------- -**

**As the day went by, I realized Sam and Dean's priorities were different. Almost completely.**

**Dean was more worried about his dad, which I got. Sam was border-line obsessed with killing the yellow-eyed demon. I got that, too. I mean, it had killed his mom and his girlfriend. I just hoped he didn't do anything stupid to get himself killed.**

"**So, how are we gonna get Monica and her baby out of the house?" I asked. "I mean, we can't do our job if she's there, right?"**

**Sam shrugged. "Maybe we can tell them there's a gas leak. Might get 'em out of the house for a few hours."**

"**Yeah, and how many times has that actually worked for us?"**

**Sam didn't say anything for a minute. "Could always tell 'em the truth."**

**Dean looked at him and shook his head.**

"**All that would accomplish is getting us thrown in the nuthouse," I said.**

**Sam smiled. "I know. I know, I know. I just…with what's coming for these people…"**

"**Sam, we've only got only one move, and you know it, all right?" Dean said. "We've got to wait for that demon to show itself, and then…we get it before it gets them."**

**Sam nodded. I picked up the Colt, which was on the table, and looked at it closely. There was a pentagram on it and an inscription. _Non timebo mala._ I knew it was Latin and that _non_ meant no, but that was it.**

"**I wonder how John's doing," I said softly. I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but now that I had, I couldn't take it back.**

"**I'd feel a lot better if we were there backin' him up," Dean said.**

**Sam laughed once. "I'd feel better if he were here backin' _us_ up."**

**Dean shrugged. He wanted to be where John was.**

**------------- -**

**We were now in the Impala and heading towards Monica's house. I was in the backseat, listening to my Ipod, one earphone in, the other one out so I could hear if Sam or Dean said anything.**

"**Hey, where'd you learn self-defense?" Sam asked me. That was random, but I knew he was just trying to take his mind off of what was going on.**

"**Um, in San Francisco at some karate place."**

"**Why?" Dean asked.**

**I hesitated, considering how to answer. "Because, in today's society, everyone needs to be able to defend themselves. I started about five years ago. I was a natural, so I stuck with it. It was my mom's idea. I used to walk back and forth to school by myself." I paused. "It was only a five minute walk, but a lot can happen in five minutes. I mean, ghosts and demons aren't the only monsters in this world. Humans can be pretty twisted even without the evil."**

**No one said anything until we reached Monica's house. That's when Dean turned to look at me. "What're you listenin' to?"**

**I brought the earphone I wasn't using up to his ear and held it there. He smiled a little. "Kansas, huh?"**

**_Carry On Wayward Son_ was playing. Seemed like the song fit, somehow.**

"**Mm-hm." I scooted closer to the front seat so I could comfortably hold the earphone up to his ear without actually putting it in his ear.**

**I looked over to the house and saw that a man-Monica's husband, probably-was closing the curtain showing in a window at the front of the house.**

"**This is weird," Sam said. I looked at him. Was he talking about the Dean and me thing?**

"**What?" Dean asked.**

"**After all these years, we're finally here. It doesn't seem real." Oh…no, he wasn't talking about Dean and me. I was just being paranoid.**

"**We just gotta keep our heads and do our jobs like always."**

"**Yeah, but this isn't like always," Sam said.**

**Dean nodded. "True."**

**Sam was silent for a minute. "Dean, uh…I wanna thank you."**

**Dean looked at him, confused. "For what?"**

"**For everything. You've always had my back, ya know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone else, I could always count on you. And now…I don't know, I just wanted to let you know…just in case."**

"**Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you kiddin' me?"**

"**What?"**

"**You're giving us a good-bye speech, that's what," I said, dropping my hand that was holding the earphone to Dean's ear. The earphone fell, too.**

"**Don't say, "Just in case somethin' happens to you", I don't wanna hear that freakin' speech, man. Nobody's dyin' tonight. Not us, not that family, nobody…except that demon. That evil son of a bitch ain't gettin' any older than tonight, you understand me?" He sounded angry, but I knew it was because he was, in fact, worried that something was gonna happen to Sam.**

**Dean brought out his cell phone and dialed a number. About ten seconds later, he hung up. "Dad's not answering."**

"**Maybe Meg was late. Maybe cell reception's bad." Sam was just spouting out reasons why John might not be able to get to his phone.**

**Dean shrugged. "Yeah, well…"**

**I cut my Ipod off and laid it down in the seat. I was getting the serious chills.**

"**It's coming," I whispered.**

**Both Sam and Dean looked at me as the wind started blowing. The street lights started flickering and the house lights soon followed.**

**Sam picked up the Colt, which was beside him in the front seat. "Let's go."**

**I took a deep breath and got out of the car.**

**We ran across the street to the front door of Monica's house. Dean picked the lock and we walked in. It was dark now. I guess the demon had made the bulbs blow or something.**

**We moved further into the house when, suddenly, a man entered the room with a baseball bat. He swung at me and it would have connected with my head if I hadn't have ducked.**

**Next thing I knew I saw him swinging at Dean, but he caught it and pinned the guys up against the wall with it, holding it against the guy's chest.**

"**Get out of my house!"**

**I stood up. He probably thought we were burglars.**

"**Be quiet and listen to me. We're trying to help you, okay?" Dean said.**

"**Charlie, is everything okay down there?" Monica's voice came from upstairs.**

"**Monica, get the baby!" Charlie screamed, pushing Dean away.**

"**No, don't go in the nursery," Sam shouted, running up the stairs.**

**I grabbed Charlie and punched him, knocking him out. Dean looked at me, surprised, and I shrugged. What else was I supposed to have done?"**

"**I'll take him outside," Dean said, lifting Charlie over his shoulder. "Go check on Sam."**

**I nodded and began running upstairs. I heard a gunshot and then a thud. I ran faster. I got to the nursery and saw Monica on the floor; Sam was helping her stand. There was no demon.**

"**Rosie!" Monica screamed.**

"**I've got her," I said, going towards the crib. I picked her up just in time. The crib burst into flames, so I jumped back.**

"**Come on," Sam shouted.**

**I walked as fast as I could without endangering the baby. There was already smoke filling the house, so I draped the blanket over Rosie's head so she wouldn't inhale much. I made sure she had breathing room, though.**

**I followed Sam downstairs and out the front door. Dean was outside with Charlie, who was now awake. When Charlie saw Monica, he came towards us.**

"**What just happened?" He was angry. He already had a bruise forming on the side of his face. Oops.**

"**They saved us," Monica said, stepping forward to take Rosie from me. "Thank you."**

**I smiled. "No problem." I looked around. I still had the chills and I didn't know why.**

"**It's still in there," I heard Sam say. I looked at him and then followed his gaze. The demon was engulfed in flames in the nursery. Something told me that wouldn't kill him.**

**Sam made like he was gonna go back in the house.**

"**Sam, no," I said. Dean grabbed him, preventing him from moving.**

"**Let me go, Dean! It's still in there." Sam was fighting hard to get away from Dean. Maybe I needed to knock _him_ out.**

"**It's suicide," Dean said. "The house is burning to the ground."**

"**I don't care."**

"**Well, I do!" Dean shouted.**

**All three of us looked back up at the nursery window…the demon disappeared into thin air.**

**I turned to look at Sam; he looked angry. I then looked at Monica, Charlie, and Rosie. They were huddled together by the road. I heard sirens and sighed. Someone had called the fire department.**

"**We should go," I said and Dean nodded. He and I started walking and Sam reluctantly followed. We got in the car and Dean tried calling John again.**

"**Come on, Dad. Answer your phone, damn it." He hung up. "Something's wrong." Some didn't say anything. He was pretty much just staring into space. "Did you hear me? Something's happened."**

"**If you had just let me go in there, I could have ended all this," Sam said softly.**

"**Sam," I leaned up to get closer to the front seat, "the only thing you would've ended was your life."**

**He turned to look at me. "You don't know that."**

**Dean started the car and began driving. "So, what, you're just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it?"**

"**Yeah," Sam stated, turning back around. "Yeah, you're damn right I am."**

"**Yeah. Well, that not gonna happen…not as long as I'm around."**

"**What the hell are you talkin' about, Dean? We've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only think we've ever cared about," Sam said.**

"**Sam, I wanna waste it. I do, okay? But it's not worth _dyin_' over."**

"**What?" Sam seemed shocked.**

"**I mean it," Dean said. "If huntin' this demon means you gettin' yourself killed, then I hope we never find the damn thing."**

**Sam shook his head, but remained silent. When we got back to the motel, Sam basically stalked through the door, setting the Colt on the table.**

**I was the last one in, so I shut the door.**

**Sam looked at Dean. "That thing killed Jess," Sam said softly. "That thing killed Mom."**

**Dean sighed. "You said yourself once…that no matter what we do, they're gone. And they're never comin' back."**

**Faster than I could blink, Dean was up against the wall. Sam had grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him. I winced. It looked like the wall actually moved. That had to hurt. But Dean didn't fight back.**

"**Don't you say that! Don't you…not after all this, don't you say that."**

"**All right, Sam. That's enough!" I shouted. Sam looked at me, shocked. I had never risen my voice to either of them. Well, there's a first time for everything.**

"**Sammy, look…" Dean began. "The four of us…that's all we have. And that all I have." Sam loosened his grip. "Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holdin' it together, man." Sam let go completely. "Without you and Dad and Alyson…" he trailed off. I couldn't believe it, but Dean actually had tears in his eyes. They both did.**

**A look of realization came over Sam's face and he turned away from Dean. "Dad…he should have called by now. Try him again." Sam turned back around.**

**It may have been my imagination, but Dean's lower lip looked like it trembled a few times before dialing the number. He was close to the breaking point.**

**After a few seconds, Dean said, "where is he?" He seemed shocked, scared, and angry at the same time. Then he hung up. "They've got Dad."**

"**Who? Meg?" I asked and he nodded.**

"**What'd she say?" Sam asked.**

"**I just told you, Sammy." He was getting frantic. "Okay…okay." He grabbed the Colt from the table and put it in his back pocket. He moved quickly around the room putting stuff in a duffle bag. "Help me!"**

"**What are you doing, Dean?" Sam asked as I started packing my stuff.**

"**We gotta go."**

"**Why?"**

"**Because the demon knows we're in Salvation, all right? It knows we've got the Colt, it's got Dad, and it's probably comin' for us next."**

"**Good." Sam said.**

**I sighed. "Sam, just listen to him, okay?"**

"**No, not okay. We've still go three bullets left. Let it come."**

"**Listen, tough guy, we're not ready! We don't know how many of 'em are out there. Now, we're no good to anybody dead." He looked at Sam. "We're leaving. Now."**

**Dean walked out the door and Sam huffed angrily. "Why are you agreeing with him?" Sam asked. "I'm right about this."**

"**No," I said, shaking my head. "You're not."**

"**You're just saying that because you have a crush on him," he said. He wasn't being mean, just stating his opinion.**

**I blinked a few times. So, Sam _had_ noticed. I _did_ feel something for Dean, but that wasn't why I was doing this. "Okay…number one, that's none of you business. Number two, if you think I would agree with someone if they were wrong, just because I cared about them, then you don't know me very well. And three, that has nothing to do with this." I was angry.**

**I was planning on picking up my bag, which I'd been packing steadily as I'd been talking, but Sam spoke again. "Then what _is_ it about?"**

"**Dean thinks John is still alive, Sam. Now, that may or may not be true, but Dean thinks it is. We have to make sure."**

"**But this demon-"**

"**Dean doesn't care about killing the demon if it means losing his family! It's like he said…it's not worth dying over. And killing this demon…it won't bring your girlfriend back or your mom." I lowered my voice. "I'm sorry, Sam, but it's the truth."**

**His jaw clenched, but he didn't say anything. He just started packing his stuff. If I hadn't been irritated with him, I would have helped him, but instead I walked out of the room and to the car. I got in, throwing my bag in the backseat. "Sam'll be out in a minute."**

**------------- -**

**We were speeding down the road like a bat out of Hell. Tension filled the car. It wasn't because it was quiet, because it wasn't. Music filled the car and one of us would say something once in a while. It was because Sam was angry, I was irritated, and Dean was worried.**

"**I'm tellin' you, Dean, we could've taken him," Sam said.**

**Dean ignored him. "What we need is a plan. Now, they're probably keeping Dad alive, we've just gotta figure out where. They'll want to trade him for the gun." Sam shook his head. "What?"**

"**Dean, if that were true, why didn't Meg mention a trade?"**

"**To freak us out," I answered. "Make us make a mistake. Throw us off our game."**

"**No. He might be-"**

"**Don't!" Dean interrupted.**

"**Look, I don't want to believe it any more than you, but if he is…all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can still finish the job."**

"**Screw the job, Sam!" Dean said.**

"**Dean, I'm just tryin' to do what he would want. He would want us to keep going."**

"**Would you quit talkin' about him like he's dead already? Listen to me. Everything stops until we get him back, you understand me? Everything."**

**Sam took a deep breath and sighed in defeat. "So, how do we find him?"**

"**Maybe we could go to Lincoln. Start at the warehouse where he was taken."**

"**Come on, Dean, you really think those demons are gonna leave a trail?" I asked skeptically.**

"**You're right," he said quietly. Ha, at least he wasn't taking his anger out on me. "We need help."**

"**Bobby?" Sam suggested and Dean nodded.**

"**Um, who?"**

"**An old friend. He's a hunter," Sam explained. "He lives in South Dakota."**

**------------- -**

**We ended up at a place called Singer's Autos. It was basically a junkyard in front of a dirty house. Car parts were scattered around the yard. There was a blue tow truck with a dog on the hood of it. Apparently, he wasn't a good watch dog because it didn't even move when we pulled up.**

**We got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Dean knocked on the door almost hesitantly.**

**An older man opened the door. He seemed surprised to see the two guys and then his eyes fell on me.**

"**Who's this?" he asked curiously.**

"**Um. It's kind of a long story," Dean said. "But she's with us now and has been for about two months."**

**Bobby moved out of the way and let us in. "I'm Alyson Daniels."**

"**Bobby Singer," he said, sticking his hand out for me to shake. So I did.**

**I looked around. There were books _everywhere_. I would have had a field day here in my old life. There were at least a thousand books in the living room, alone. I may have exaggerated a bit, but I was close.**

**We walked further into the house and Bobby picked up two flasks, handing one to Dean. "Here ya go."**

"**What is this? Holy water?"**

"**That one is." He nodded to the one he, himself was holding. "This is whiskey." He took a swig, grimacing because of the taste, and then handed it to Dean, who took a drink also.**

**Sam went towards a table that was near the fireplace, which I hadn't noticed until just then. I followed Sam to the table and stood beside him. There were a few open books with symbols on the pages, but I didn't know what they meant.**

**Sam nudged my arm with his elbow. "I'm sorry," he whispered.**

**I looked up at him into his eyes, making sure he was sincere, and then nodded, but didn't say anything. I looked in Dean's direction. He was talking to Bobby; I assumed he was telling Bobby what was going on.**

**Sam nudged my arm again and I looked back at him. "Forgive me?" He flashed me the puppy-dog look and I had to turn my head away so that he wouldn't see me grin.**

"**Yeah, I guess." I got my face under control and then looked at him again. "Just don't do it again." I sat on the edge of the table and picked up a book to read.**

**The book was pretty much huge and heavy. There was a picture of a pentagram with other symbols in the spaces of the star. According to the book it was a protective circle and it could trap a demon.**

**I handed the book to Sam, who sat down in a chair on the other side of the table. "Read that."**

"**Bobby, thanks," I heard Dean say. "Thanks for everything. To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if we should come."**

"**Nonsense. Your daddy needs help."**

"**Yeah, but last time we saw you, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot. I mean, you cocked the shotgun and everything."**

**Bobby shrugged. "Yeah, well, what can I say? John just has that affect on people."**

**I grinned. I hoped that was true. It was funnier if it was true.**

"**Yeah, I guess he does," Dean agreed.**

"**None of that matters now. All that matters is that you get him back." So, Dean _had_ been telling Bobby what was going on.**

"**Bobby?" Sam was still looking at the book. "This book…I've never seen anything like it."**

**Bobby came over and looked at it. "The Key of Solomon? It's the real deal, all right."**

"**And these protective circles…they really work?"**

"**Hell yeah. You get a demon in one, they're trapped, powerless. It's like a satanic roach motel."**

"**The man knows his stuff," Dean said, coming towards us.**

"**I'll tell you somethin' else, too. This is some _serious_ crap you people stepped into."**

"**Yeah?" Sam asked. "How's that?"**

"**A normal year, I hear, say, three demonic possessions, maybe four, tops."**

"**Yeah?"**

"**This year, I've heard of twenty-seven so far. You get what I'm sayin'? More and more demons are walkin' among us…a lot more."**

"**Do you know why?" I asked.**

"**No," he shook his head, "but I know it's somethin' big. A storm's comin'. And you three, and John…you are smack in the middle of it."**

**I was just sitting there when, suddenly, I got the chills. I actually started shivering this time. I didn't know if it was because it had happened once already or if it was because I was tired, but what I did know was that something was coming.**

"**Um, guys?" The dog that had been laying on the truck started barking.**

"**Rumsfeld." Bobby went to the window. "He's gone. Something's wrong."**

**The door was kicked in and a girl with short blond hair came strutting in. She was wearing a red leather jacket, black shirt, and blue jeans.**

"**No more crap, okay?" she asked. Dean walked towards her and, at first, I'd thought she'd hit him, but she must have used telekinesis because she'd never touched him. She'd flung him into a stack of books in the far side of the room. He must have been knocked unconscious because he wasn't moving.**

**Sam got up from his chair and stood in front of me, shielding me from her.**

"**I want the Colt, Sam. The real Colt. Right now."**

"**We don't have it on us. We buried it."**

**Meg sighed. "Didn't I say no more crap? I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters, I've gotta tell you, I'm a little under-whelmed." I saw Dean try to get up and, finally, he accomplished it. "First, Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun, and then he leaves the real gun with you two chuckle heads. Lackluster, man. I mean, did you really think I wouldn't find you?"**

"**Actually," Dean said, coming up behind her, "we were counting on it." He looked up at the ceiling where a protective circle was. I hadn't noticed it before, but it must have been there since we'd gotten there. It couldn't have just magically appeared.**

**For the first time, I saw fear in Meg's eyes when she realized she was trapped.**

"**Gotcha," Dean said.**

* * *

**Yay, another chapter! And more reviews. Thanks for the feedback and keep it coming.**


	9. Devil's Trap Part Two

Chapter Twelve

**Bobby had put a chair in the middle of the protective circle and Sam and Dean had tied Meg to it.**

**All the while, she'd been looking at me almost like she was scared of me. I didn't know why. I couldn't hurt her.**

**I looked up at the ceiling. I still didn't know how I'd missed the circle. I also didn't know how Bobby explained all his books and things when he had company over.**

"**You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask." Meg was looking at Dean now. He ignored her.**

"**I'm gonna go salt the doors and windows," Bobby said. "Make sure that if there are demons out there that they don't get in here."**

**Sam and Dean nodded. "You should go help him," Dean said.**

"**I'm fine where I am," I replied.**

"**You're shaking," he said softly.**

**I was confused for a minute, and then I realized, oh, I was. I hadn't noticed. I shrugged. "Distance won't help. I'd still be able to feel her even if I was upstairs." I glanced over at Meg. I probably shouldn't have said that in front of her.**

"**Alyson, please. It'll get done faster."**

**I groaned. Why'd he have to go and use logic? You couldn't fight logic. "Yeah, yeah," I agreed. I looked at Bobby. "I guess we should get started."**

**Bobby nodded and turned to walk away; I followed. He went into the kitchen and grabbed two big gasoline cans filled with salt. He handed one to me. "So, what's the deal with the girl?" he asked.**

**I shrugged. "I don't know. I just know she should be dead. Sam said she dropped from a seven-story window."**

"**Hey, you think this is a freakin' game?" I heard Dean shout from the other room. "Where is he? What did you do to him?" Apparently, Meg wasn't cooperating.**

**Bobby set his salt can down and went back out the door to the other room. I went to each window in the kitchen and poured a line of salt over the opening. Then I did the same to the back door.**

**I went back into the other room and salted the front door and then the windows. Meg was looking at me again. I'd read in a book somewhere that you should never talk to evil things because they try to trick you and get in your head, but she was bugging me. "What?"**

**She smirked. "Nothing. I'm just trying to figure it out."**

"**Well, that's nice and vague," I said, rolling my eyes. "_What_ are you trying to figure out?"**

"**What makes you so special? I'd heard you were supposed to be extremely powerful. I've gotta say, I'm disappointed."**

**I shrugged. I didn't care. I walked over to Sam and Dean, who were talking to Bobby.**

"**You've gotta be careful with her," Bobby said. "Don't hurt her."**

"**Why?" I asked. "I mean, she fell out of a window. It's kind of a moot point now, don't you think?"**

"**Because she really is a girl, that's why."**

"**What are you talkin' about?"**

"**She's possessed," Bobby said. "That's a human possessed by a demon, can't you tell?"**

**I looked at Meg, who was still looking at me. She was creeping me out.**

"**You're tryin' to tell me there's an innocent girl trapped in there somewhere?" Dean asked. Bobby nodded. "That's actually good news."**

**I raised my hand a little. "How is that good news?"**

"**Because we can send the demon back to hell."**

**I nodded. He was talking about performing an exorcism. "Oh. Have you ever done that before?"**

"**Once," Sam answered.**

"**Uh-huh. Is it like the movie? Because if it is…I'd like to be elsewhere."**

"**You'll be fine," Dean said. He looked at Sam. "Go get Dad's journal." Sam nodded and began walking towards the front door.**

"**Hey, watch the salt. I just put it there."**

**Dean looked at me. "What'd she say to you?" He looked at Meg. "When you were talking to her."**

"**Just that she was disappointed. She said that she thought…she's heard that I'm more powerful than I actually am."**

**A couple minutes later, Sam came back inside holding John's journal. He was flipping through the pages.**

"**Aw, are you gonna read me a story?" Meg taunted.**

"**Somethin' like that," Dean answered. He looked at Sam. "Whenever you're ready."**

**I saw Bobby go into the kitchen and then came back out with a can of salt. He went upstairs.**

**Sam started speaking in Latin and, surprisingly, I actually knew some of the words. But then I realized it wasn't _that_ surprising because, supposedly, the English language had come from Latin words.**

"**An exorcism?" Meg asked. "Are you serious?"**

"**Oh, we're goin' for it, baby. Head-spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards," Dean said.**

**I shuddered. "Thanks so much for that mental image," I said.**

**Meg winced as if she was in pain and Sam stopped speaking. "I'm gonna kill you," Meg said. She looked at me. "And I'm gonna start with her. I'm gonna rip the bones from her body." She looked back at Dean. "And I'm gonna make you watch."**

**I swallowed…hard. The word _gulp_ came to mind.**

"**No," Dean said, visibly tensing. "You're gonna burn in hell unless you tell us where our dad is." Meg didn't say anything, so Dean nodded for Sam to continue. "Well, at least you'll get a good tan."**

**Sam looked at the journal and began reading…until Meg screamed. "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes. He begged to see his sons one last time. That's when I slit his throat." She looked at me again. "Just like I slit your Mommy's."**

**I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes. Oh, God, that made sense. The yellow-eyed demon had a pattern and the way my mom died didn't fit it. Sam, Dean, and I had actually talked about that, but now it made sense.**

**When I opened my eyes, I saw that Dean was leaning over Meg; they were only a couple inches apart.**

"**For your sake, I hope you're lying. 'Cause if it's true, I swear to God, I will march into hell myself, and I will slaughter each and every one of you evil sons of bitches, so help me God." He backed away from the chair.**

**Meg screamed again and the pages from the open books on the table where Sam and I had been sitting earlier started flipping on their own.**

"**Where is he?" Dean asked.**

"**You just won't take _dead_ for an answer, will you?"**

"**Where is he?"**

"**Dead!"**

"**No, he's not! He's not dead, he can't be!" He was desperately clinging onto what he hoped to be true. He needed it to be. I honestly didn't think John was dead. He didn't strike me as the begging-for-his-life type. Meg had probably made that up to mess with Dean's head.**

**The lights started to flicker and Meg's chair started scooting across the floor on its own. She screamed again. "He will be!" Sam stopped reading. "He's not dead. But he will be after what we do to him."**

"**How do we know you're telling the truth?" Dean asked.**

"**You don't." Well, I saw that coming.**

"**Sam, keep reading."**

"**A building! Okay? A building in Jefferson City," she said desperately.**

"**Missouri? Where?"**

"**I don't know."**

"**And the demon, the one we're looking for, where is it?" Sam asked.**

"**I don't know. I swear! That's everything. That's all I know."**

**Dean took a deep breath, like he was considering doing something he was gonna regret. "Finish it."**

"**What?" Meg asked. "I told you the truth."**

"**I don't care," Dean said.**

"**You son of a bitch. You promised."**

"**I lied," he yelled.**

**Sam didn't do anything. "We can still use her…find out where the demon is."**

**I saw Bobby come downstairs, salt can in hand. He came over to us.**

"**She doesn't know," Dean said.**

"**She lied," Sam reminded him.**

"**Sam," I stepped forward, "there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there. We've gotta help her."**

"**You're gonna kill her," Bobby said.**

"**What?" Dean asked.**

"**Alyson said she fell from a building. That girl's body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside. You exorcise it, that girl is gonna die."**

**I took that in. "We can't just leave her like that. A prisoner in her own body. It's wrong."**

"**She's a human being," Bobby said.**

"**Then we're gonna put her out of her misery," Dean said heatedly. He looked at Sam. "Finish it."**

**Sam looked at me now. "It's the right thing to do, Sam." I could get why Sam was having problems with it, though. I mean, the girl was probably dead already, but that wasn't our fault.**

**Sam started reading again and then Meg started twitching. Her eyes turned coal-black. She was in pain…or the demon was, anyway. Eventually, she threw her head back and let out a long, agonized scream. And then black smoke was coming out of her mouth…a bunch of it. I watched as the smoke went towards the ceiling and disappeared. Meg's head fell forward. She wasn't moving, which was no surprise. I watched as blood started dripping from her mouth down onto her legs. Then her head started moving or, rather, she was _trying_ to move her head.**

"**She's still alive," I said.**

**Dean and Sam moved towards her. "Call 911. Get some water and blankets," Dean said to Bobby and Bobby left the room. Dean and Sam untied the ropes from around her wrists.**

"**Thank y-you," Meg said.**

"**Hey, just take it easy, all right?" Sam said.**

"**Come on," Dean said. "Let's get her down." Sam and Dean grabbed her gently and lifted her.**

"**Um, maybe you shouldn't move her," I said. _Not that it matters_, I added silently. I mean, she was bleeding from the mouth, which meant she had internal damage. I saw her grimace from the pain of being lifted and laid flat on the floor. It brought tears to my eyes to see a human being in this much pain, but I knew we'd done the right thing, making the demon leave her body. _Please, God, don't let her suffer much longer_.**

"**A year," Meg said weakly.**

"**What?" Sam asked.**

"**It's been a year."**

**I moved closer so I could kneel down beside her. I grabbed her hand gently, but didn't squeeze. She did, though. It surprised me.**

"**I've been awake…for some of it." She swallowed…more blood was probably trying to make its way into her mouth, but she wasn't letting it. "I-I couldn't move my own body. The things I did…It's a nightmare." She squeezed my hand tighter. "It was scared of you." She moved her head a little to look at me.**

"**Why?"**

"**It thought…you could hurt it. It knew…about your powers and where they…where they come from." She stopped talking and swallowed again.**

"**Was it telling us the truth about our dad?" Dean asked.**

"**Dean…" Sam said warningly.**

"**We need to know."**

"**Yes," Meg said. "But it wants you to know…that they want you to come for him. Wants her to come."**

**Dean looked at me. "If Dad's still alive, none of that matters." He looked back at Meg.**

**Bobby came back in the room with two blankets and a glass of water. He handed the water to Dean and the blankets to Sam.**

**Dean lifted Meg's head a little and brought the water to her mouth. Sam put one of the blankets on the floor so she could lay her head on it.**

"**Where's the demon we're looking for?" Sam asked.**

"**Not there…other ones. Awful ones."**

"**Where are they keeping our dad?"**

"**By the riv-river." Her grip was loosening on my hand. "Sunrise."**

"**Sunrise? What does that mean?" Dean asked, but didn't get an answer. "What does that mean?"**

**Her hand hung loosely in mine. "She's gone, Dean." I took my hand away from hers. Dean looked sadly at me. "She's not suffering anymore."**

**I stood up and turned away from Meg. I felt faint, and I wanted to scream, but I didn't. Tears pooled in my eyes for the life that had been lost. They threatened to spill over, but I wiped them away.**

"**Are you okay?" I heard Sam ask, so I turned to look at him. He was talking to Dean.**

"**Yeah," Dean said quietly. He was still looking at Meg's lifeless body. He wasn't okay. I knew that. The way he saw it, he hadn't saved a life, he'd taken it.**

"**Dean, we didn't have a choice," I almost whispered.**

**He stood up, facing me. "Are you saying you're okay with this?"**

"**No, I'm not saying I'm okay with it! I'm saying we did the only thing we could."**

"**Hey, you better hurry up and beat it before the paramedics get here," Bobby said. "I called them about three minutes ago."**

"**What are you gonna tell them?" Sam asked, standing up.**

"**You think you guys invented lying to the cops?" Bobby asked. "I'll figure somethin' out." He walked over to the table that had the books on it.**

**Dean turned to look at me. "Alyson…I want you to stay here."**

"**What?" I asked. "No." I paused. "Why?"**

"**You heard Meg. The demon wants you to come."**

"**So?"**

"**So, it's waiting for you to get there," Sam put in.**

"**Or maybe that's what the demon wanted us to think. Maybe it's waiting for you guys to leave me, so it can get to me."**

"**She could be right," Bobby said, coming back to us with a book in his hands. "Here. Take this. You might need it." He handed it to Sam. It was the book I'd been looking at earlier.**

"**Thanks," Sam said.**

"**Yeah, for everything," Dean added. "Be careful, all right?"**

**Bobby nodded. "You just go find your dad. And when you do, bring him around, would ya? I won't even try to shoot him this time."**

**I smiled slightly. It felt wrong after everything that had happened.**

**Sam, Dean, and I went out to the car and got in. I got in the backseat and Dean started the car.**

"**I still think you should stay here," Dean said.**

"**Well, I'm not going to," I said. "So, get over it." I wasn't being mean, just firm. I wasn't leaving them.**

**------------- -**

**Two hours into the drive, I was falling asleep, leaning against the left back door. I remembered what had happened the last time I'd fallen asleep against the door; I'd woken up with a serious headache. So, I spread out across the backseat.**

**My bag was still in the backseat, so I reached in and grabbed one of my shirts. I used it as a pillow.**

**Images of the exorcism flashed in my mind, but I didn't care. I needed sleep. One minute I was thinking about Bobby and how likable he was and the next I was waking up because of an annoying beeping noise. I knew it wasn't an alarm clock because I was aware enough to know I was in the backseat of the car. I realized the car wasn't moving, so I sat up slowly. I was alone in the car, but I could see both Sam and Dean standing right outside. Dean was at the trunk and Sam was basically looming over me at the door.**

**I got out at the other side of the car and stretched. I noticed we were parked by a river. And the annoying beeping sound had been a train blowing its horn over and over in the distance.**

"**We're here already?" I was surprised. "I thought it was at least a nine hour trip."**

"**Not with the way Dean was driving," Sam said. He was flipping through the book Bobby had given us. Dean was standing by the open trunk, making sure all the guns were loaded. Sam suddenly moved to draw something on the trunk, which I realized was extremely dusty and needed to be washed. I mean, seriously, it was gray instead of black now.**

"**Dude, what are you drawin' on my car?" Dean asked indignantly.**

"**It's called a devil's trap. Demons can't get through it or inside it."**

"**So?"**

"**It basically turns the trunk into a lockbox." Sam moved to the other side, wiped the dust off, and began drawing another one. He was using a silver marker, it would come off eventually.**

"**So?" Dean asked again.**

"**So, we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad."**

"**We're not taking it with us?" I asked. "I mean, Meg said there were a bunch of demons waiting for us."**

**Sam shook his head. "We can't. We've only got three bullets left. We can't just use 'em on any demon. We've gotta use 'em on _the_ demon."**

"**No," Dean said. "We have to save Dad, Sam, okay? We're gonna need all the help we can get."**

"**Dean, you know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? Dean, he wouldn't want us to bring the gun."**

"**I don't care, Sam!" Dean yelled. "I don't care what Dad wants, okay? And since when do _you_ care what Dad wants?"**

"**_We_ wanna kill this demon. You used to want that, too! Hell, I mean, you're the one who came and got me at school. You're the one who dragged me back into this, Dean. I'm just tryin' to finish it!"**

**Dean looked at the ground, shaking his head. "Wow. You and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that?" He looked back at Sam. "You both can't wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I'm gonna be the one to bury you. You're selfish, you know that? You don't care about anything but revenge."**

"**That's not true, Dean. I want Dad back. But they are expecting us to bring this gun. They get the gun, they will kill us all. That Colt is our only leverage, and you know it, Dean. We cannot bring this gun. We can't."**

**Dean sighed. "Fine."**

"**I'm serious, Dean."**

"**I said fine, Sam." He took the Colt out of his coat pocket, showed it to Sam, and placed it in the trunk. Sam walked past him to get to the passenger-side door. He got in the car and I went to the back with Dean.**

**I looked through the back window at Sam, who was still reading the book. I grabbed the Colt, looked in Dean's eyes, and then stuck the gun back into Dean's coat pocket. "We're gonna get your dad back." I looked at the trunk. "You got everything you need?" He nodded, looking at a bag at his feet, so I closed the trunk.**

**He let out a breath that was halfway between a laugh and a sob. Before I knew it, he was wrapping his arms around me, pulling me towards him.**

**And, yeah, okay. I hadn't been expecting that, so I tensed up for a second, but then slowly felt myself relax. "Thank you," I heard him whisper. "For everything." I felt him kiss the top of my head before he let me go.**

**I watched as Dean went to the side of the car and leaned down to talk through the window. "Come on. We're walking the rest of the way."**

"**What?" I heard Sam ask.**

"**Meg said it was by the river. It can't be too far from here."**

**------------- -**

**You know those moments where you know you must be dreaming? I was having one of those and had been since Dean had hugged me because I honestly hadn't expected him to do that.**

**We were just walking aimlessly around. I mean, we had no idea where we were going. I just happened to glance over at an apartment complex because a bunch of kids were playing out front. The name caught my eye. Sunrise Apartments.**

"**Guys," I said, pointing to the building.**

"**Son of a bitch," Dean said. "That's pretty smart. I mean, if these demons can possess people, they can possess almost anybody inside."**

"**Yeah, and make anybody attack us," Sam added.**

"**So, we're basically sitting ducks." My dream-state was gone.**

"**Yeah, and we can't kill 'em. A building full of human shields."**

"**They probably know exactly what we look like, too. And they can look like anybody," Sam said.**

"**This sucks out loud."**

"**Yeah, tell me about it." Sam sighed. "All right, so, how the hell are we gonna get in?"**

"**Um." I raised my hand. "I have a really bad, but really good idea." They looked at me. "We could pull the fire alarm. The people who aren't possessed would leave."**

"**Okay," Sam said. "But then the city responds in, what, seven minutes?"**

"**Seven minutes exactly."**

"**Okay, well, I'll go flip the switch and I'll stay in there and wait for you guys," I said.**

"**You can't go in by yourself," Dean said.**

"**Yeah, well, if I don't get in there now, I won't be able to go in at all. And it's not like I'm gonna do anything that's gonna get me hurt."**

**Dean and Sam looked at each other and then they both nodded.**

**------------- -**

**After I'd pulled the alarm I'd waited like I'd said I would; I was by the entrance, but I wasn't in plain view. I'd been a little worried because I hadn't known how Sam and Dean were gonna get in, but then they'd shown up in firemen outfits. They were both carrying a spraying can full of holy water. Dean had an EMF meter in his hands and he was checking each room.**

**It was around room number 25 that I realized something supernatural was around. "Something's close."**

**We sped up until we reached room number 33; the EMF went off.**

**Dean knocked on the door. "This is the fire department. We need you to evacuate."**

**The door opened and Sam and Dean started spraying a woman with holy water and we made our way inside the room. There was a man there also. He looked at me and his eyes turned black. What was up with that?**

**Sam sprayed the man with holy water and he hissed in pain.**

**The two boys seemed like they had everything under control, so I started looking around the room. It was the size of your average apartment. I saw a door and went towards it.**

**When I opened it, I saw John laying on a bed, hands and feet tied. I walked slowly towards him, but then I heard a door slam, so I looked behind me. Sam and Dean were locking the demons in a closet. Sam poured a ring of salt on the floor, around the door. He'd gotten the salt from a can in the bag he'd been carrying.**

**I looked back at John. I could tell he was breathing from where I was standing. I moved closer and saw he had dried blood about his eye on the left side of his face. It had trailed down to his chin.**

**Sam and Dean came in behind me and Dean rushed forward, pulling a knife out of his pants pocket. He was getting ready to cut the ropes that bound John to the bed, when Sam told him to wait.**

"**What?" Dean asked.**

"**He could be possessed for all we know."**

"**What are you, nuts?"**

"**Dean, we've gotta be sure." Sam got a bottle of holy water out of the bag and poured it on John, waking him up.**

"**Sam?" John looked and sounded a little dazed. "Why are you splashin' water on me?"**

**Dean grinned a little, leaning down to cut the ropes. "Dad, you okay?"**

"**Yeah, but they've been druggin' me." That meant he'd be weak, which meant we might have a problem getting him out of here. Especially if there were any more demons to contend with. "Where's the Colt?"**

"**Don't worry, Dad," Sam said. "It's safe."**

"**Good." John sounded exhausted. "Good."**

**Well, yes, it was safe, but it wasn't where Sam thought it was.**

**Suddenly, a door opened, so I turned to look. Two guys, who were obviously possessed, had made their way into the apartment. One of them looked like your regular everyday man. The other was a fireman and he was carrying an ax.**

**I hurried to close the bedroom door and then I locked it. The blade of the ax came through the door, stopping inches from my face. I actually let out a small scream at that one. It had been way to close for comfort.**

**Sam got out the salt and put a line of it in front of the door. Dean was hauling John towards the window. It lead to the fire escape.**

"**Okay, let's go!" I waited for Dean to get out, then John went, and then me. Sam followed shortly after, putting salt on the windowsill.**

**There was a ladder that led to the ground and Dean was starting to go down it. John seemed alert enough to be able to climb down himself. Sam went next, but when I didn't move he looked up at me. "What's wrong?"**

**I hesitated. "I don't like heights. I could fall." It was a control thing. It was why I'd never been on a plane…because I wouldn't have control.**

"**You're not gonna fall," he promised.**

**I took a deep breath and nodded. It's not like I had a choice. The only way I could go was down. "Okay." He started moving down and I turned to step onto the ladder. I squeezed the bars tightly and breathed deeply. I could do this. I fought spirits and demons. Climbing down a ladder should be a walk in the park.**

**When I finally reached the bottom step, I let go and fell into a crouch on the ground. John was leaning against the building, looking tired, like he was about to collapse.**

**I looked around. There were still demons around; I could feel them. I watched Sam head for the road and then suddenly someone tackled him. Some guy began pounding on Sam's face over and over again. Dean had been busy helping John stand, so I rushed over to Sam and kicked the guy who was hitting him. It didn't help.**

**I rolled my eyes. This guy was a demon. He had to be or the kick I'd sent his way would've broken his nose.**

**The next thing I knew, I was sailing through the air. I hit a car, back-first. I felt the window smash behind me and I felt the glass rip into my skin. I'd only been wearing a thin shirt and that wouldn't have done much in the way of protecting my back.**

**I heard a gunshot, so I tried getting up. It didn't work that well. My back was aching, burning. I steeled myself against the pain and sat up slowly.**

**I saw Sam on the ground, blood coming from his temple, both his nostrils, and his bottom lip…but his temple was what was bothering me.**

**Beside Sam, was the guy who'd been punching him. He was dead. Dean had used the Colt. He'd shot the guy in the head.**

**I slid off the car easily. Everything seemed to be in working order except my back was still hurting. I walked over to Sam; I wanted to help him up, but I couldn't bend over. Dean helped him get to his feet.**

"**You guys okay?" he asked.**

"**I'll live," Sam said.**

"**My back hurts. I think there's glass in it." I wasn't gonna lie about it.**

"**We can take care of that when we get to the car," Dean said.**

**I nodded as we made our way back to John, who had fallen to the ground.**

**------------- -**

**When we got back to the car, Sam got in the backseat, Dean helped John into the front and I just stood there. I couldn't sit, or I'd hurt my back even more than it already was.**

**I watched as Dean went to the trunk, opened it, and pulled out a first aid kit. "I think we're being followed," I said. "We should hurry.**

"**You're hurting," Dean said. "I'm gonna take the time to fix it."**

**I nodded and watched as he shrugged his jacket off and held it out to me. "You're gonna have to take your shirt off," he explained.**

"**Oh," I said softly. I looked around. We were in a secluded spot, so no one would see. "Um…it hurts to move my back." This was awkward. "You're gonna have to do it."**

**Dean was very professional about it, which was good because I was slightly uncomfortable. Slightly being an understatement.**

**He pulled up at the back of my shirt, careful not to touch my skin and brought it over my head and down my arms. I hardly had to move at all.**

"**Why do you think we're being followed?" he asked. I knew he was just trying to take my mind off of what he was doing.**

"**I can feel 'em," I said. "So, we have to hurry." He held his jacket out to me again and this time I took it. I put it on backwards, the back of the jacket to the front of me. It was warm and it smelled like Dean. Leather and beer and just a hint of gunpowder. That probably doesn't sound like a good combination, but the association was what mattered.**

**I turned so that my back was towards him and I felt him move closer. I felt his fingers gently moving on my back and I let out a breath I wasn't even aware I'd been holding.**

"**It's not that bad," I heard him say. "It'll only take a few minutes." I felt a slight sting as the first piece of glass came out and then the pain was gone. "Huh," Dean said.**

"**What?"**

"**As soon as the glass comes out, you heal." He sounded amazed. It took him the most time to get the glass out of my shoulder; he said it was like a cluster of glass. Well, that was probably why it hurt to move it.**

**When he was done, I felt him rub my back with some kind of cloth, probably my shirt, getting the blood off my skin. "You're good now."**

**I turned towards him. "Thanks."**

**He nodded, looking at me, but not really. He seemed to be thinking. "I killed that guy back there."**

"**Dean, you had to. He would've killed Sam," I said softly.**

"**Sam," he said, leaning to look in the backseat. "I should-"**

**I took the first aid kit from him. "I'll take care of Sam. You drive."**

**------------- -**

**Dean had driven for a while and we ended up at some rundown cabin. Dean had helped John into the bed, first-thing. Dean said John only needed rest and he'd be okay.**

**Sam, poor thing…his right eye was pretty much swollen shut. He'd had a cut on his forehead, but I'd cleaned it in the car.**

**I was almost definitely sure that we'd been followed, so I was now putting salt in front of the doors and windows.**

"**Hey, uh…Dean, you, um…you saved my life back there."**

**I looked at Sam, who was leaning against the wall, and then at Dean, who was sitting on the edge of a table. He had his jacket back because as soon as I'd gotten in the car I'd gotten another shirt out of my bag and changed into it.**

"**So, I guess you're glad I brought the gun, huh?" Dean smirked.**

"**Man, I'm tryin' to thank you here."**

**Dean looked at him. "You're welcome." He looked at the floor. "Hey, Sam?"**

**Sam pushed himself off the wall. "Yeah?" I could tell Dean wanted to talk about something important.**

"**You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there."**

"**You didn't have a choice, Dean," Sam said, going to sit beside him.**

"**Yeah, I know. That's not what bothers me."**

"**Then what does?"**

"**Killin' that guy. Killin' Meg…I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch. For you, or Dad, the things I'm willin' to do or kill, it just…it scares me sometimes."**

**I looked at Sam, catching his eye. I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. Dean had been protecting his family and, yes, it sucked that a human life had to be lost in the process, but it shouldn't scare him that he wanted to keep the people he cared about safe.**

"**It shouldn't," John said, entering from the other room. "You did good."**

**The feeling that something unnatural was around grew stronger, but the salt had been laid out, so we were safe.**

"**You're not mad?" Dean asked.**

"**For what?"**

"**Usin' a bullet," Dean said obviously.**

"**Mad? I'm proud of you. You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed." Sam looked at the floor. "But you…you watch out for this family. You always have."**

"**Thanks," Dean said, but he looked confused.**

**The lights began flickering and the wind started blowing outside. So we _had_ been followed.**

**John moved to the window and looked outside. "It found us. It's here."**

"**The demon?"**

"**Sam, lines of salt in front of every window, every door."**

"**Um, I already did it," I said.**

"**Well, check it okay?" Sam nodded and left the room. "Dean, you got the gun?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Give it to me," John said.**

"**Dad, Sam tried to shoot the demon in Salvation. It vanished."**

"**This is me. I won't miss. Now, the gun. Hurry." Dean brought the Colt out of the back of his jeans, looked at it, but didn't give it to John. "Give me the gun. What are you doing, Dean?"**

**I watched as Dean backed away from John a little. "He'd be furious."**

"**What?" I asked, moving towards him.**

"**That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me a new one." Dean raised the Colt and took the safety off, aiming at John. "You're not my dad."**

**I was standing beside Dean now. He hadn't pulled the trigger, but he continued pointing the gun at John.**

"**Dean, it's me."**

**Dean shook his head. "I know my dad better than anyone. And you ain't him."**

"**What the hell has gotten into you?"**

"**I could ask you the same thing," Dean said. John began moving forward, but Dean told him to stay back.**

**Sam came back in the room, but stopped when he saw what was going on. "Dean? What the hell are you doing?"**

"**Your brother's lost his mind," John said.**

"**He's not Dad," Dean replied softly.**

"**What?"**

"**I think he's possessed," Dean said. "I think he's been possessed since we rescued him."**

"**Don't listen to him, Sammy."**

**Sam looked at Dean. "How do you know?"**

"**He's just…he's different." Meaning he was being nice.**

"**It would explain how I've been feeling since we found him," I put in. "Maybe we weren't followed. Maybe we brought something with us."**

"**You know, we don't have time for this. Sam, you wanna kill this demon, you've gotta trust me."**

**Sam looked back and forth at John and Dean. He was obviously torn between who he should believe. "No," he said, moving towards Dean and me. "No."**

**John's lips started trembling. "Fine. You're so sure? Go ahead. Kill me." John looked at the floor.**

**I looked at Dean, who was near tears, and he clearly didn't know what he was supposed to do here. After a few seconds hesitation, Dean lowered the gun.**

"**I thought so." John sounded smug. He looked at us…with yellow eyes. He was possessed.**

**Sam, Dean, and I were suddenly flung across the room to opposite walls. Sam was on the right, I was on the left, and Dean was right in front of the demon.**

**Dean had dropped the Colt when John-no, not John, the demon-had sent him flying and the demon was now picking it up off the floor.**

"**What a pain in the ass this thing's been." He looked at me, walking towards me. "Just like you."**

**I couldn't move. The yellow-eyed demon was coming at me and I couldn't move an _inch_.**

"**You've been a pain in the ass, too." He was right in front of me now. I just looked at him defiantly. "I gotta tell ya, I thought killing you was gonna be easy. I guess I was wrong."**

"**Why?" I asked. "Why are you after me?"**

**He looked into my eyes and I refused to look away. "You mean you don't know?"**

"**If I did, I wouldn't have asked, now would I?" I asked smartly.**

**He grabbed my chin tightly; so tightly, it started to hurt.**

"**Hey!" I heard Dean shout, but the demon ignored him.**

"**That pretty mouth of yours is gonna get you into trouble someday."**

**I ignored that comment. "Tell me why."**

**He shrugged. "Sure, why not? I mean, I'm gonna kill you anyway." He let go of my chin and walked to the center of the room, still looking in my direction. I looked at Dean and Sam. They looked just as frustrated that they couldn't move as I was.**

"**I don't know all the boring details, but you're supposed to be very powerful. More powerful than you are now. It's true. You'd get stronger if I let you live past tonight." He looked at Sam and Dean now. "You boys have been lookin' for me for a long time. And you finally found me."**

"**I'm gonna kill you," Sam said furiously.**

"**Oh, that'd be a neat trick. In fact, here." He put the Colt, which he'd been holding, on the table where Dean had been sitting earlier. "Make the gun float to you there, psychic boy." He was being sarcastic now. A demon with a bad sense of humor.**

**I watched as Sam looked at the gun, _concentrated _on the gun. He was trying to do exactly what the demon had suggested, but it wasn't working.**

**The demon chuckled. "Well, this is fun." He went to Dean, standing right in front of him. "I could've killed you a hundred times today, but this…this is worth the wait. And your dad? He's in here with me-trapped inside his own meat suit. He says hi, by the way." The demon paused, moving closer to Dean. "He's gonna tear you apart. He's gonna taste the iron in your blood."**

"**Let him go," Dean said. "Or I swear to God-"**

"**What?" the demon interrupted. "What are you and God gonna do?" He looked from Dean to me and then back to Dean. "You see, as far as I'm concerned, this is justice."**

"**What are you talkin' about?" Sam asked.**

"**You know that little exorcism or yours? That was my daughter."**

"**Who, Meg?" Dean asked.**

**The demon nodded. "And the one in the alley? That was my boy. You understand?"**

**I scoffed. "Oh, please."**

"**What?" Yellow-eyes turned to me. "You guys are the only ones who can have families?" He walked towards me again. "You destroyed my children." He got right in my face. "How would you feel if I killed _your_ family?" I glared at him murderously. "Oh, that's right. I forgot. I did. Still, two wrongs don't make a right."**

"**You didn't kill my mom," I said. "Your _daughter_ did. She kinda let that slip before we sent her back to hell."**

**He laughed shortly and then backhanded me. The force of it sent the side of my head reeling into the wall and I felt my lip split where he'd hit me. It hurt, but I refused to cry out. I was stubborn like that.**

"**You son of a bitch!" Dean yelled. Yellow-eyes ignored him.**

"**She was right. I didn't kill your mom."**

"**No, but you're the reason she's dead. You sent that demon there, didn't you? Mom would've died whether I'd been there or not." Yellow-eyes shrugged.**

"**I wanna know why. Why'd you do it?" Sam asked and the demon turned to look at him.**

"**You mean, why'd I kill Mommy and pretty little Jess?"**

"**Yeah."**

**I licked my lips and the taste of blood filled my mouth. My lip had healed itself, but I could still feel a small trail of blood fall from my bottom lip.**

**Yellow-eyes looked at Dean. "You know, he never told you this, but Sam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shoppin' for rings and everything." The demon walked over to stand in front of Sam. "You wanna know why? Because they got in the way."**

"**In the way of what?" Sam asked heatedly.**

"**My plans for you, Sammy. You…and all the children like you."**

"**Listen," Dean said. "You mind just getting this over with, huh? 'Cause I really can't stand the monologuing." I knew he was mostly doing that to get the demon away from Sam.**

"**Funny," Yellow-eyes said, walking back to Dean. "But that's all part of your M.O., isn't it? Mask all that nasty pain. Mask the truth."**

"**Oh yeah? What's that?"**

"**You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is…they don't need you. Not like you need them. And Sam…he's clearly John's favorite. Even when they fight. It's more concern than he's ever shown you."**

"**Yeah, I bet you're real proud of your kids, huh? Oh, wait. I forgot. I wasted 'em." The demon backed away from Dean and a second later Dean was bleeding from his chest and he let out a scream of agony.**

"**Dean!" I still couldn't move.**

**Sam was screaming Dean's name as well, trying to move away from the wall. He wasn't having any more success than I was.**

"**Dad!" Dean screamed. "Don't you let it kill me!"**

**I watched as blood started coming out of Dean's mouth. "Stop it!" I shouted. "Stop!"**

**Suddenly, I could move. I looked at John, who seemed to be in control at the moment. Sam could move too, apparently, because he grabbed the Colt and pointed it at John, who was now the demon again.**

"**You kill me, you kill Daddy.**

"**I know." Sam aimed for John's leg and he hit his target. Both John and Dean collapsed. I rushed over to Dean, who had fallen over to the floor. I landed on my knees and lifted his head to lay if on my lap. He'd lost a lot of blood.**

"**We need to get him to a hospital, now, Sam."**

**Sam walked over to us. "Oh, God…Dean."**

**Dean's eyes opened. "Where's Dad?" he asked weakly.**

"**He's right here, Dean."**

"**Go check on him." He coughed, blood landing on my jeans. "Go check on him."**

**I watched as Sam moved towards John, but then I looked back at Dean, who was closing his eyes again.**

"**Hey, wake up," I said softly. He didn't. I put my hand on his chest, where the blood was coming from, and pressed on it gently.**

**He gasped in pain and I hated that I was the one who caused it, but at least his eyes were open now.**

**He brought his hand up to mine, grabbing it, pulling it away from his chest. "I'm sorry," I said. "But you can't go to sleep, Dean…" I felt tears sting my eyes, and I let out a shaky breath. "Or you might not wake up." I squeezed his hand tightly. "And that is _not_ an option, do you hear me?"**

**He nodded once. "Tired," he said.**

"**I know, Dean, but _stay awake_."**

**Suddenly, John was telling Sam to shoot him…repeatedly.**

"**It's still alive. It's inside me. I can feel it." Sam raised the gun and cocked it. "Shoot me, now!"**

"**Sam, don't you do it. Don't you do it." More of Dean's blood soaked through my jeans.**

"**You've gotta hurry! I can't hold onto it much longer." John said. "Son, I'm beggin' you. We can end this here and now."**

"**Sam, no," Dean whispered.**

**John let out a long scream, black smoke coming out of his mouth. When the demon was finally fully out, it disappeared, going through the floor of the room.**

**Dean relaxed against me, but kept his eyes open. He was now shaking, _shivering_, uncontrollably. He was going into shock, probably from blood loss. We needed to get him to a hospital. Fast.**

**------------- -**

**It had taken a while to get everybody situated in the car. Sam had helped John into the front seat of the car and then both Sam and I had to help Dean into the backseat.**

**I was not in the backseat, turned towards Dean, holding one of my shirts against his wound, trying to stop the blood flow.**

**I looked at Sam, who was driving. "How long?"**

"**Ten minutes."**

**I looked back at Dean, who was fighting to stay awake. I sighed. "Drive faster, Sam." He pressed on the accelerator.**

"**You know, I'm surprised at you, Sammy," John said. "Why didn't you kill it? I thought we saw eye to eye on this. Killin' this demon comes first. Before me, before everything."**

**Sam shook his head. "No, sir. Not before everything."**

"**And he would've killed you," I said. "You don't put that responsibility on your children." I realized I was being snappy, but I didn't care.**

"**Look, we still have the Colt. We still have the one bullet left," Sam said. "We just have to start over, all right? I mean, we already found the demon once-"**

**I heard a loud crash and saw myself flying towards the door and then my world turned black.**

* * *

Okay, so last chapter for this season. And you probably hate me for the way it ended, but...yeah. Anyway, the first chapter of season two will be posted within the next week or so. I think. I'll probably post this under Friendship/Romance because I don't exactly know when I want those two to get together.  
Thanks for reading and reviewing!!!


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